EU member states and lawmakers today (11 March) provisionally agreed on new rules for platform workers, aiming to improve working conditions and regulate the use of algorithms by digital labour platforms.

The deal comes after several member states last month derailed a political agreement that was reached earlier between the member states and the European Parliament.

The rules were first proposed by the commission in December 2021, to protect workers for apps such as Uber, Deliveroo and Glovo who are often treated as self-employed despite being under rules similar to ordinary employees.

Under the law, the use of algorithms for workers that are used in human resources management will be made more transparent, ensuring that automated systems are monitored by qualified staff and that workers have the right to contest automated decisions.

“This is the first-ever piece of EU legislation to regulate algorithmic management in the workplace and to set EU minimum standards to improve working conditions for millions of platform workers across the EU,” Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy and Employment Pierre-Yves Dermagne said in a statement.

28 million

The agreed text strikes a balance between respecting national labour systems and ensuring minimum standards of protection for the more than 28 million people working in digital labour platforms across the EU, the council said.

The main compromise elements revolve around a legal presumption which will help determine the right employment status of people working for digital platforms.

A spokesperson for Uber said in a statement that the vote today means maintaining the status quo “with platform worker status continuing to be decided country-to-country and court-to-court.”

“Uber now calls on EU countries to introduce national laws that give platform workers the protections they deserve while maintaining the independence they prefer.”

Plenary vote

Last month, Germany – host of Delivery Hero and Free Now – chose to abstain, together with Greece and Estonia. France, an opponent of the law, said it could not support the text on the table. 

France and Germany also abstained during today’s vote.

In the negotiations, the parliament mostly opted for a worker-friendly position that made it harder for platforms to circumvent the legal presumption, strengthened the transparency requirements on algorithms and ramped up penalties for non-compliance.

The gap between the two institutions bogged down negotiations over the past year.

The text of the agreement will now be finalised in all the official languages and formally adopted by both institutions. The parliament is likely to vote in its April plenary session.

Member states will then have two years to incorporate the provisions of the directive into their national legislation.