2023-12-13 13:15:00
LONDON (AP) — In a bid to improve working conditions for people who provide food delivery or ride-hailing services through apps, the European Union on Wednesday provisionally approved rules giving them the benefits of full-time workers and restrict the way online platforms manage their employees through algorithms.
The European Parliament and the 27 EU member countries agreed on a directive for gig workers that has taken years to draft. The measure seeks to provide protections and benefits to the growing number of app employees while increasing the accountability and transparency of apps that rely on independent contractors.
These workers and platforms are not covered by current labor legislation, and the aim of this directive is to cover those gray areas. It must still be ratified by legislators and member states, who will have two years to transcribe it into their national laws.
The new rules guarantee gig workers, such as drivers, that “they will receive the social and labor rights to which they are entitled, without sacrificing the flexibility of the platform’s business model,” said Nicolas Schmit, executive commissioner of labor and services. social rights.
Negotiators said the rules will help clarify the employment status of up to 5.5 million people misclassified as gig workers and who are actually employees eligible for benefits.
A platform that meets two criteria will be considered an “employer”, and the people who work for it will be “employees” with the right to minimum wage, paid holidays, pensions and unemployment and sickness benefits.
The criteria are that the app limits wages electronically, monitors job performance, controls working conditions and limits hours, determines the assignment of tasks, or dictates the personal appearance and behavior of the worker.
Under the rules, algorithms used to assign tasks will have to be monitored by humans to ensure they meet working conditions. Workers will be able to appeal automated decisions, such as a dismissal or a suspension of their accounts.
Automatic monitoring and decision-making systems will not be able to use certain personal data such as the emotional or psychological state of the worker or make predictions about their current or potential union activity.
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