Platform work - Council sets out its position
Status determination remains controversial
VS – 06/2023
The Employment, Social Policy, Health and
Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) meeting on 12 June succeeded in agreeing on
the Council's general
approach to a proposed
directive on improving working conditions in platform work. The
European Parliament has already agreed to a position on the proposed directive on 2 February 2023, so that the negotiations of the
Council and the European Parliament can begin.
Status determination and transparency in algorithmic management
The proposed directive for platform worker
has two main objectives. First, to determine the actual employment status of
people working for digital work platforms in the EU. This is intended to
strengthen access to social and labour protection for platform workers and to
give both platform operators and workers more legal certainty. Secondly, the
directive aims to increase transparency in the use of algorithms by digital
work platforms and ensure human oversight of key decisions affecting workers
and the protection of their personal data.
Status determination - two camps face off
Until recently, the application of the
statutory presumption of employment to determine status was at the centre of
controversy. Some Member States, including France, had called for exceptions to
the application of the statutory presumption of employment status, while others
argued for the retention of the Commission's proposal.
In order to gain France's approval, the
Swedish Council Presidency named exceptions to the application of the statutory
presumption of employment status in the last compromise proposal. Thus, the
criteria underlying the presumption of employment status are not to be used if
they are met as a result of compliance with legal requirements or agreements of
the social partners. The Council Presidency has accommodated the advocates of
retaining the regulations of the Commission proposal by assuring that more
far-reaching national regulations may be retained. The text also clarifies that
the conditions listed in the criteria are met in the actual employment
relationship.
Fragile compromise
The approval in the Council is to be
understood as the willingness of the Member States to move forward with the
negotiations on the Directive and to start discussions with the European
Parliament, although the rules for determining the employment status of
platform workers remain controversial. The adoption of the mandate for the
trialogue negotiations was accompanied by the statements of France, Lithuania and the joint
statement of Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal
and Romania. In each case, amendments are named for final approval. The German
government has not yet been able to agree on a position and has abstained, like
Spain, Greece, Latvia and Estonia.
What happens next?
The trialogue negotiations will begin under
the Spanish Council Presidency. All parties involved emphasise that the goal is
still to adopt the directive during this legislative period of the Commission
and the European Parliament.