CESI statement on possible EU measures to improve work in the platform economy

As a first social partner consultation by the European Commission on possible action addressing challenges related to working conditions in platform work came to a close, CESI issued a contribution with its priorities for better work in the platform economy.

According to CESI, the following priorities should be considered by an EU policy measure:

• It is essential to recognise that the contractual relationship with the platform worker is at the core of this consultation. As many social security entitlements and fundamental working rights are linked to an employment status, and since the distinction between employment and self-employment is increasingly blurred, it is important to cover as many platform workers as possible with core social and labour rights. On the one hand the employment status should be recognised for as many platform workers as possible. On the other hand, it is about establishing minimum standards even for those not classified as employees.

• Platform workers should be classified as employees in the absence of evidence to the contrary (a rebuttable assumption). This approach would facilitate the collective representation of labour in the platform economy and help mitigate another challenge that needs to be addressed: The low degree of participation of platform workers in trade unions. In line with CESI’s recent contribution to a roadmap consultation of the European Commission on the right of collective bargaining to the self-employed, it is especially the vulnerable self-employed that would benefit from a right to collective bargaining, as it would help them to avoid being excessively sold out by market powers

• Because of its task-based nature, platform labour often consists of very short tasks (sometimes as short as one click), each of which can be extremely low-paid. In the absence of any minimum pay standards (e.g. in the form of minimum fees per task, or minimum working time) platform workers struggle to accomplish micro-tasks with very little economic value and the total benefit derived from the performed tasks is minimal. Ideally, they should hence be covered by either minimum wage or income schemes.

• The precarious nature of platform work mandates effective measures for the adequate, affordable, and effective social protection of the involved persons. The principles established in the Council recommendation on access to social protection of 2019 should be guiding social protection in the platform economy too.

• EU action should address specific data-related risks that platform workers face in the digital environment in which they operate, most notably concerning (1) the collection and processing of sensitive information, (2) profiling of workers, (3) information sharing to third parties and the provision of personal data that has economic value, as well as (4) matters related to the portability of data (the ability of workers to transfer data to another platform) and data deletion (the so-called ‘right to be forgotten’), and (5) invasive and deceptive practices such as de-anonymisation (re-identification of private encrypted information), spamming (unwelcome messages), stalking (systematic surveillance), malware attacks, and scams.

• Although there is a considerable number of recent court decisions on the working rights of platform workers both at the EU and national level, this is not sufficient to ensure legal certainty since the existent case law is not consistent. A binding framework for the protection of platform workers would represent an important commitment of the EU to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. A bold legislative initiative can contribute to the enhancement of all the rights included in the Pillar.

CESI’s full position is available here

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