The Socialists and Democrats managed to include a strong call for a Commission proposal on better protecting platform workers in a report voted in the European Parliament’s employment committee. The goal is to improve the working conditions for all digital platform workers, including the genuinely self-employed. Currently, platform workers are not covered by an EU legal instrument, leaving them in a legally precarious situation. As platform workers are often misclassified as self-employed, they have no protection in times of crisis, have to shoulder all the risks and pay for their own working materials.

The Socialists and Democrats demand that platform workers should have the right to challenge their classification as self-employed workers and are then automatically considered employees with all applicable rights in terms of pay, income taxes, social protection, health and safety protection, as well as unionisation and collective bargaining. If the platform companies disagree, it is up to them to prove that no employment relationship exists with the worker.

Elisabetta Gualmini, S&D MEP and negotiator, said:

“It is so easy – with one click on your phone you can have food delivered to your doorstep, a car to take you anywhere or a cleaner to tidy your home. Yet, some people are paying a very high price for this convenience. Uber drivers, Helpling cleaners or Deliveroo cyclists are deprived of fair wages, denied social insurance and declined paid leave. Bogus self-employment leaves these modern day labourers without any income security. Some of the richest companies on the planet outsource their business risk onto the workers and the taxpayer. If Uber drivers do not get any customers, they are stuck with the bill for the fuel. If Deliveroo drivers have a bike accident during work, they will be without sick pay. Moreover, traditional companies, who offer their employees full social protection and decent pay, are facing unfair competition from platforms engaged in social dumping.

“We therefore call on the European Commission to present a legislative proposal on better protecting platform workers by the end of this year.”

Agnes Jongerius, S&D MEP and spokesperson on employment and social affairs, said:

“To change the game of the gig economy, all platform workers must be considered as employees in principle. Our goal is to reverse the burden of proof. According to set criteria, an employment relationship must be assumed to exist with the platform, entailing full social and workers’ rights. Our goal is decent working conditions for all platform workers, including the genuinely self-employed and to combat bogus self-employment. I am proud that our group managed to include this crucial point in the report, which now has S&D fingerprints all over it.

“It is time to finally strengthen workers’ rights in the digital age. If we don’t step in to protect some of the most vulnerable people in the economy today, we risk precarious work spreading everywhere tomorrow.”