Gig economy company in European UnionCompanies such as Uber and Deliveroo must plan to combat false self-employment under the new law to ensure workers receive minimum wages, sick pay, vacations, and other employment rights.
The long-awaited draft legislation was announced on Thursday, European Commission The burden of proof for expressing employment status will be transferred to the company, not to the individual working for them. So far, gig economy workers have had to go to court to prove that they are employees, otherwise they may be deprived of their basic rights.
European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights Nicholas Schmidt told The Guardian and other European newspapers that Internet platforms “use grey areas in our legislation [and] All possible ambiguities” to develop their business model, leading to the “misclassification” of millions of workers.
The committee stated that in the 27 member states of the European Union, about 5.5 million workers were incorrectly classified as self-employed, and they should be treated as employees with benefits and protections (such as accident insurance). The company only needs to pay the minimum wage, and the minimum wage already exists. There are approximately 28 million people working for the platform in the EU, but this number is expected to reach 43 million by 2025.
After the European Court of Justice was asked to resolve approximately 100 disputes related to gig economy companies, these proposals sought to provide legal certainty. France, Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal have tightened their domestic laws, but EU officials believe that no government has completely resolved this issue.
Since Brexit, the British government has no obligation to comply with EU laws, and judges need to clarify employment laws for a new generation of Internet companies. In 2016, the Employment Tribunal ruled that Uber drivers are not self-employed And should pay the minimum wage and sentence youThe Supreme Court appealed in February.
Tim Sharp, a senior employment rights policy officer at the trade union conference, said that there is no “significant government intervention” in the UK to address trade unions’ perceptions of abuse and problems with platform work.
“If the European Union is seen as taking a tough stance on platform operators, I think the government here will face greater pressure and needs to take measures to protect vulnerable workers,” he said.
The EU proposal will be revised by ministers and members of the European Parliament before it becomes law.
Schmidt, the former minister of labor in his hometown of Luxembourg, said that certain services may be “a little more expensive”, but he believes that the convenience of consumers should not be at the expense of workers.
He said that services such as food delivery are not free. “I can’t think about whether someone will deliver pizza to my house at 11 o’clock in the evening… I don’t have to pay for it. This is a service. If it is a service, then the person who provides the service also has the right.”
According to the directive, workers will also gain rights to algorithms to prevent people from being refused work, working hours or even being fired due to machine decisions. Instead, employees have the right to obtain explanations and doubts about automatic decision-making, and the company must ensure that any matter that may have a significant impact on an individual can be contacted.
According to the proposal, companies that do not allow employees to work for other companies or that have regulations on appearances and how to perform tasks can be classified as employers.
Ludovic Voet of the European Federation of Trade Unions stated that the directive should “mark the end of free for everyone” for companies such as Uber and Deliveroo. “For a long time, platform companies have made huge profits by evading their most basic obligations as employers at the expense of workers, while at the same time peddling the lies that they provide workers with choices,” he said.
Companies in the gig economy have taken a different approach. Just Eat Takeaway is a Dutch company and one of the largest takeaway companies in the world. It was announced last year that gig workers will become benefited employees.
MoveEU, an agency representing Uber and other ride-hailing apps, believes that the EU’s actions may result in the loss of jobs. “Platform work is very diverse, and a one-size-fits-all approach may have an impact on the business model of the platform and ultimately negatively affect the many independent workers who rely on them,” it said in a recent paper.
George Meyer, a digital technology expert at the London School of Economics, said companies must adapt to the market in order to remain stable. “For many of these platforms, because they realize that their model is not profitable, what changes they can make and what changes they can’t make is a big question.”
“We have seen some evidence that platforms are trying to circumvent the strict control of legislation by changing their business models. Another option is to exit a country where they do not see a profitable future.”
