The rights of bicycle couriers in Wolt and workers on other online platforms have been strengthened in the EU. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB
Of NTB | 24.04.2024 13:30:54
Policy: With a clear majority, the so-called platform directive was adopted on Wednesday.
According to the directive, the workers on online platforms such as Uber, Foodora and the like must initially be considered wage earners.
According to the European Commission’s calculations, there are at least 5.5 million employees.
The directive has been the subject of fierce tug-of-war. A controversial topic has been whether the workers should be considered employees or independent contractors.
In the directive that has been adopted, it is up to each individual EU country to determine its own criteria. But if the platforms control factors such as wages and working hours, the workers must be considered employees, according to the new rules.
As employees, platform workers will have more rights, including sickness benefits and social security.
It will also no longer be allowed to let algorithms in the apps decide whether an employee should lose their job due to, for example, bad ratings. From now on, such decisions must be made by people, according to the new directive.
The directive must now be formally approved by the member states before it enters into force.
(© NTB)