Law passed

Platform workers to receive more rights

After months of negotiations, the EU countries have finally approved a law for more rights for employees of so-called platform companies such as Uber and food delivery services. At a meeting of environment ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, the 27 member states adopted a compromise agreed in March.

The law should ensure that employees of platform companies are considered full-time employees under certain conditions. Originally, the negotiators from the European Parliament and member states had agreed on EU-wide criteria such as wage levels and fixed rules for clothing and working hours in December. However, a group of EU countries led by Germany and France overturned the compromise shortly afterwards.

The text that has now been adopted no longer contains any uniform EU-wide criteria. Instead, the law refers to national laws, international agreements and the case law of the European Court of Justice. The implementation of rights for employees is therefore almost exclusively the responsibility of the member states. Diplomats in Brussels and several companies had therefore warned of a fragmentation of the EU market.

More than 30 million affected
Until now, Uber drivers and bicycle couriers, for example, have often been self-employed on paper and therefore not covered by their employer's social insurance. More than 30 million people in the EU work for platform companies, and this figure could rise to more than 40 million by 2025. The EU Commission estimates that around 5.5 million of them are falsely self-employed.

The ball is in the Member States' court
SPÖ MEP Evelyn Regner sees the directive as a "milestone". In future, employers must "ensure clear conditions with regard to employment relationships and give platform workers access to essential social benefits", said Regner in a press release. The ball is now in the court of the member states to "implement the regulation sensibly".