The European Commission presents a proposal for a directive to improve working conditions for riders employed on food delivery platforms. The basic package of uniform rules across the EU contemplates better calibration of algorithms and a clearer boundary between self-employment and employment.
The resources to respect workers’ rights are there. In the last 5 years, 2016-2020, the revenue of digital platforms has quintupled from 3 billion to 14 billion. Also involved is the digitization imposed by the restrictions for Covid-19.
Food delivery and drivers, 28 million workers
European workers serving large digital platforms are estimated at 28 million. And it will grow to 43 million in 2025.
The majority of the labor force would be self-employed, according to data collected by the Commission. And yet at least 5.5 million people now classified as self-employed are in paid employment.
More protections for riders
Failure to recognize the employee-employer relationship is very penalizing for workers, who are deprived of the right to a minimum wage, paid sick leave and vacation, and other protections (e.g., the right to a minimum wage, paid vacation, and other protections (e.g., the right to a minimum wage). welfare, health, unemployment benefits etc).
The proposal for a directive presented by the European Commission on 9.12.21 therefore aspires first and foremost to simplify the criteria for distinguishing between self-employment and salaried work, in the context of digital platforms.
Identikit of subordinate employment
The certain identification of the status of an employee is entrusted by the directive to some concrete criteria, which have emerged as diriment in the Union and national jurisprudence.
Indicators consider the system of calculating pay, control of performance performed, the inability of the worker to self-manage working hours and work for other companies, and whether the worker is required to wear a uniform.
It is sufficient to ascertain the occurrence of two of the stated criteria to automatically qualify the worker’s legal profile as an employee.
The tyranny of the algorithm
The disputes of food delivery riders often evoke the tyrannical management of the algorithm. In fact, the machine calculates workloads and salaries with automatisms with literally inhumane outcomes.
The draft directive therefore proposes to introduce more transparency and fairness. That is, make the criteria adopted in the algorithm public and subject the outcomes of their decisions to the scrutiny of a human operator.
Self-employment in the EU
Further initiative to improve the working conditions of European citizens, online and offline, concerns a discussion on the rules applied to self-employed workers in different contexts.
The goal is to clarify the application of European competition law and to support a growing segment of the population, especially in cases of significant imbalance in bargaining power.
The timing of the reform
The timing of the reform is rather diluted, as usual. The proposed directive on work in food delivery and other online platforms will have to be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council. Once adopted, it will be transposed by member states within two years.
Instead, the draft guidelines on competition in self-employment will be adopted by the Commission at the end of the eight-week public consultation launched on 9.12.21.
Notes
(1) European Commission. Commission proposals to improve working conditions for people working through digital work platforms. 9.12.21 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/it/IP_21_6605
(2) European Commission. Antitrust: Commission invites comments on the basic draft on collective agreements concerning working conditions of individual self-employed workers. 9.12.21 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/it/ip_21_6620
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
