Leïla Chaibi MEP (GUE/NGL, France), coordinator of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, presented a proposal for a directive to better protect digital platform workers to Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit on Monday 16 November.
“The meeting with the Commissioner went very well: we agreed on the need to avoid the creation of a ‘third status’ (a status between employee and self-employed - editor’s note), which has been loudly called for by digital platforms”, the MEP told EUROPE, welcoming the fact that the European Commission is considering the same legal basis as the one it is proposing.
This “turnkey” directive, in the words of its promoter, is based on Article 153 of the TFEU (§2, b), which makes it possible to establish minimum requirements in a whole range of areas related to working conditions.
Among the most important points, the MEP is proposing a definition of ‘digital platform’ that explicitly targets the transport sector, and one for ‘workers’ that links so-called ‘uberised’ workers to the category of worker under EU law.
These definitions would make it possible to provide the same rights to these workers, who are considered atypical, as those enjoyed by any other employee, we are told. Another point: the proposed directive insists that the development of mechanisms and algorithms for rating workers should be subject to collective bargaining. Article 4 is dedicated exclusively to this issue.
The initiative is similar to the one from the Greens/EFA group, which had presented a directive to protect whistleblowers to the European Commission in reaction to the directive on business secrets (see EUROPE 11546/9).
The Commission is expected to propose an initiative in the autumn of 2021 after extensive consultation. The European Parliament is expected to present an own-initiative report on the issue in the course of next year. “Our proposal for a directive will help lend us weight in the negotiations”, the MEP hopes.
To view the proposal: https://bit.ly/38LF1Mi (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)