LibGuides: CoR Plenary (June 2022): Improving working conditions in platform work

Improving working conditions in platform work

The Digital Transformation of Labor by Anthony Larsson & Robin Teigland (Eds.)
Publication Date: 2019-11-11

Through a series of studies, the overarching aim of this book is to investigate if and how the digitalization/digital transformation process causes (or may cause) the autonomy of various labor functions, and its impact in creating (or stymieing) various job opportunities on the labor market. This book also seeks to illuminate what actors/groups are mostly benefited by the digitalization/digital transformation and which actors/groups that are put at risk by it.

Improving the working conditions of platform workers
Platform work is an umbrella concept covering a heterogeneous group of economic activities completed through a digital platform. As platform workers' rights are not enshrined in EU labour law, this increasingly leads to problems related to various aspects of their work (working conditions, healthcare, unemployment, pensions) and human development (education, training, recognition of skills). To remedy this situation, the European Commission has submitted a proposal for a directive aimed at improving the working conditions of platform workers, clarifying their employment status and supporting the sustainable growth of digital labour platforms in the EU. First edition. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure.

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EP Briefing - Feb 2022
Improving working conditions in platform work
The IA presents a qualitative and partially quantitative assessment in support of the proposal on working conditions in platform work. The problem definition would have benefited from further clarification, in particular of the target group, as it refers to 'some people', whilst the IA describes more widely problems faced by all of the people working through platforms. The IA openly explains the difficulties relating to the lack of data on platforms, an issue that the authors of the IA tried to address by making great efforts to collect relevant data, for example, through a survey and broad stakeholder consultations. The IA provides a sufficient range of options to address the defined problems and clearly describes the stakeholders' views, which appear to diverge, for example regarding the rebuttable presumption with reversed burden of proof of an employment status. In the impacts assessment, the proportionality criterion was not used in the comparison of the options, contrary to the recommendations of the Better Regulation Guidelines.

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EP Briefing - April 2022
Improving the working conditions of platform workers: Pre-legislative synthesis of national, regional and local positions on the European Commission's initiative
This Briefing forms part of an EPRS series which offers a synthesis of the pre-legislative state-of-play and advance consultation on a range of key European Commission priorities during the latter’s five-year term in office. It seeks to summarise the state of affairs in the relevant policy field, examine how existing policy is working on the ground, and identify best practice and ideas for the future on the part of governmental organisations at all levels of European system of multilevel governance.

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EP Briefing - Dec 2021
Improving working conditions in platform work
The platform economy brings innovation, flexibility, access to the labour market, and it responds to consumer demand. People working through digital labour platforms should benefit from appropriate labour rights and social protection.

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EC publication - Jan 2022
Study to support the impact assessment of an EU initiative to improve the working conditions in platform work
This study was produced to support the impact assessment of the new EU-level legislative initiative, aimed at improving the working conditions and social rights of people working through platforms with the view to support the conditions for sustainable growth of digital labour platforms in the European Union. The initiative has been designed to address three core issues: misclassification of employment status of people working through platforms; fairness and transparency of algorithmic management practices applied by labour platforms; enforcement, transparency and traceability of platform work, including in cross-border situations.

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EC Report - Oct 2021
Employment and working conditions of selected types of platform work
Platform work is a form of employment that uses an online platform to match the supply of and demand for paid labour. In Europe, platform work is still small in scale but is rapidly developing. The types of work offered through platforms are ever-increasing, as are the challenges for existing regulatory frameworks. This report explores the working and employment conditions of three of the most common types of platform work in Europe. For each of these types, Eurofound assesses the physical and social environment, autonomy, employment status and access to social protection, and earnings and taxation based on interviews with platform workers.

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Eurofound Report - Oct 2018
Platform work: Maximising the potential while safeguarding standards?
Platform work emerged onto European labour markets about a decade ago. While still small in scale, it is growing and evolving into a variety of forms. Different types of platform work have significantly different effects on the employment and working conditions of the affiliated workers. To be effective, policy responses aimed at ensuring decent conditions in platform work should take these differences into consideration, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach. This policy brief highlights the main opportunities and challenges of specific types of platform work and illustrates some of the first attempts at addressing them in the EU.

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Eirofound Policy Brief - Oct 2019

Platform work in Europe: Lessons learned, legal developments and challenges ahead
Several years since first emerging in Europe, platform work continues to represent a ‘social dilemma’ for workers, social partners, policymakers and society as a whole. As a result of intense litigation, analysis and reporting, much is known about the contractual and working conditions in this growing labour market segment. While the European Union (EU) institutions are considering adopting a new Directive based on Art. 153 TFEU, there are a number of significant top-down and bottom-up national cases worth discussing. Workers across Europe have been reclassified by many courts; some governments have taken regulatory initiatives to address the risk of precariousness and have implemented new comprehensive legal instruments to safeguard a level playing field for both workers and platforms. This article discusses how existing and new domestic and EU labour law provisions can improve the labour conditions of platform workers. Its overarching goal is to address possible policy gaps and the implications for EU social law by exploring the lessons that can be drawn from recent policies and legal developments.

Antonio Aloisi, European Labour Law Journal, 2022, Vol. 13(1) 4–29.