Towards a European Employment Status: The EU Proposal for a Directive on Improving Working Conditions in Platform Work




Rosin Annika

PublisherOxford University Press

2022

Industrial Law Journal

51

2

478

493

1464-3669

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwac011

https://academic.oup.com/ilj/article/51/2/478/6595210



On 9th December 2021, the European Commission proposed a Directive on improving working conditions in platform work (the Proposal). Among other elements, the Directive includes measures to ensure the correct determination of the employment status of platform workers. The personal scope of national labour laws has historically been determined by the Member States. The proposed Directive would take a bold step by giving the Member States specific instructions in this regard. The Proposal sets out a complicated model for determining employment status. First, it sets out a hybrid model, which combines the determination of employment status according to national law with an obligation to take into account criteria developed by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). Second, it introduces a rebuttable legal presumption of an employment relationship if two out of five criteria of control can be detected. Certain of the five criteria are easier to demonstrate than others because of the informational imbalance between the worker and the platform that is generated primarily by the use of algorithmic management. As such, the Directive facilitates the determination of employment status, but it does not fully eliminate the problems connected with the employment status of platform workers.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 17:15