The EU Parliament and Council support a proposed directive that would treat millions of platform workers working in food delivery and ride-hailing apps as employees, potentially costing the industry hundreds of billions of yen.
Platform workers (
Platform workers: deal on new rules on employment status | News | European Parliament
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20231207IPR15738/platform-workers-deal-on-new-rules-on-employment-status
Rights for platform workers: Council and Parliament strike deal - Consilium
European Union lawmakers agree deal to bolster gig worker rights | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/13/eu-platform-worker-directive-political-deal/
It is estimated that there are 28 million platform workers across the EU, such as taxi drivers, food delivery workers and housekeepers. Although the majority of them are 'self-employed,' they have to follow the same rules and restrictions as employees of companies, and it has been pointed out that they are actually in an employment relationship with companies. If you are an employee rather than self-employed, the treatment of minimum wages, sick pay, holidays, etc. will be very different.
The number of platform workers is expected to increase further in the EU, and in 2021, the European Commission proposed that platform workers should be given the rights as employees.
The European Commission announces a new bill stating that ``gig workers should be given the rights they deserve as regular employees'' - GIGAZINE
The treatment of platform workers was debated over the next two years, and on December 13, 2023 local time, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union tentatively agreed on a draft directive to improve the working conditions of platform workers. . This 'Platform Worker Directive' stipulates two major things.
One is the correct classification of employment status. Until now, the majority of platform workers have been treated as self-employed workers, but from now on, if at least two of the five criteria are met, they will be legally recognized as platform employees. You will be asked to do so.
There are five indicators:
1: Upper limit on the amount that a worker can receive
2: Performance monitoring, including by electronic means
3: Controlling task distribution or assignment
4: Management of working conditions and restrictions on the selection of working hours
5: Restrictions on freedom to organize work, rules regarding dress and behavior
The agreement allows EU member states to add further indicators to this list as a matter of national law.
Until now, in order for platform workers to be recognized as employees, they had to prove that they were employees of the company. It is the platform's responsibility to prove that there is no relationship (not an employee).
Another thing set out in the Platform Workers Directive is to use algorithms more transparently. Staffing platforms use management algorithms that may obscure how decisions are made and how personal data is used.
The agreement will ensure that workers are informed about the use of automated monitoring and decision-making systems. It also includes personal and private conversation data about the psychological and emotional state of platform workers, data predicting trade union activity, racial/ethnic origin, immigration status, political/religious beliefs, and health status. Data, biometric data, and other types of personal data must be managed by qualified staff, and account suspensions must be managed by humans.
Please note that this announcement is only that ``a tentative agreement has been reached on the Platform Workers Directive,'' and the directive will be formally adopted by both organizations after approval and legal language by the Board of Directors and Parliament. It will be. After formal adoption, Member States have two years to incorporate the Directive into their national law.
Naturally, establishing minimum wage guarantees and sickness and injury benefits will increase expenses for the platform, and the cost is estimated to be in the billions of euros (hundreds of billions of yen) for the industry as a whole. In Spain, where a law to the same effect was passed in 2021 ahead of the directive, it has been reported that the food delivery service Deliveroo has withdrawn and other food delivery services are also reducing the scale of their services.
EU to Force Uber (UBER US), Deliveroo (ROO LN) Treat Some Drivers as Employees - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-13/eu-deal-to-make-uber-deliveroo-treat-some-drivers-as-employees
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