- The EU Council adopted the platform work directive on 14 October 2024.
- States must establish a presumption of an employment relationship where there are signs of control and direction.
- It imposes transparency and human oversight on the algorithms that organise, evaluate or sanction staff.
On 14 October 2024 the Council of the European Union formally adopted the directive on improving working conditions in platform work, the last step in the legislative procedure. The text had been endorsed by the European Parliament in April, with 554 votes in favour, 56 against and 24 abstentions. After its signature and publication in the Official Journal, Member States will have two years to transpose it into national law.
The rules aim to improve the situation of the more than 28 million people who work on digital platforms in the EU and who, in many cases, appear as self-employed even though they work under the platform’s direction. There are two main blocks: the correct classification of the relationship and the rules on the use of automated systems to manage staff. The European Commission proposed the rules at the end of 2021 and Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement in February 2024.
The presumption of employment
States must establish a legal presumption of employment that is triggered when facts indicate control and direction by the platform. If the platform wants to rebut it, it will have to prove that there is no employment relationship. The presumption may be invoked by the worker, their representatives or the competent authorities, in administrative and judicial proceedings. The specific criteria for triggering it will be set in each country, so the Spanish law will need to be followed.
In Spain, the existing presumption had so far been limited to delivery or distribution work. The directive would take this principle, by its scope, to other sectors in which platforms intermediate work, such as passenger transport, cleaning or care. It is also not retroactive: it will apply from the end of the transposition period. For platforms, the practical effect is that the burden of proof shifts: it is no longer the worker who must show dependence, but the platform that must show independence.
Algorithms and automated decisions
The directive requires platforms to inform workers and their representatives about automated systems of monitoring and decision-making. It restricts the processing of certain data, including data on emotional or psychological state, private conversations or the prediction of the exercise of fundamental rights such as trade union activity. The use of biometric systems to identify a person by comparing them with stored data is also prohibited.
It also requires human oversight. Important decisions, such as restricting or closing an account or refusing a payment, must be reviewable by a person, with written reasons. In addition, the platform must assess the impact of its automated systems on working conditions, including risks to safety and health, and correct them if it detects a risk of discrimination. Workers will have the right to a contact person to discuss decisions and to a written reply within two weeks.
What to review
Companies that organise work through an app or digital platform, whether delivery, transport, home services or professional services, should already review how they classify those who work with them. Imposed schedules, detailed instructions, constant ratings, penalties or the impossibility of refusing tasks are signs that point towards the control the presumption will take into account.
It is also worth documenting what the software does to people: which data it uses, who reviews decisions and how a worker can complain. For those who buy services through platforms, the change may affect prices and conditions. With the transposition date ahead, following the Spanish law with your adviser’s help will make it possible to anticipate the adjustments needed. And if your activity is cross-border, remember that the rules will apply to platforms wherever they are established, provided the work is carried out in the EU.
The algorithm is also a boss, and as such it will have to answer for itself.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
