ANP
NOS News•today, 9:08 PM•Adjusted today, 10:30 PM
Food deliverers, Uber drivers and other ‘platform workers’ will have better working conditions in the future. EU countries have reached an agreement on this.
The European law that should improve the legal protection of platform workers appeared not to be passed last month due to resistance from too many EU countries. Now Estonia and Greece have changed tack, resulting in the required majority.
PvdA MEP Jongerius reacts with relief and is “extremely happy”. Jongerius spent years working on the file. She is now happy that platform workers who “have been in a precarious position delivering meals and driving taxis all this time” will get more rights.
Platform work is work that is offered via online platforms. Platform workers are approached online to perform the services. Meal services and taxi companies such as Deliveroo and Uber, for example, use it.
The new law still needs to be approved by the European Parliament. In an earlier version, platform workers would be more likely to be seen as employees if, for example, they were not allowed to set their own rates. This would also entitle them to vacation days and sick leave.
In the provisionally approved version of the law, member states are allowed to define for themselves when someone is self-employed and when an employee. People who believe that they are not self-employed but are actually employed by the platform can legally challenge this. The platform must then prove that the person is not an employee.
Toned down variant
Trade union FNV believes that the proposal that has now been approved is a watered-down variant. “But it still helps, because according to companies there has been a gray area in the laws so far regarding the deployment of these personnel. This proposal could reduce that,” responds FNV director Anja Dijkman.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, calls the new agreement a win-win situation. “Our digital economy is evolving, workers’ rights must evolve too,” she wrote on X.
It remains to be seen whether the European Parliament will vote on the new law soon. Due to the European elections in June, parliament will go on election leave next month.
If the new law for the legal protection of platform workers is approved, it will come into force two years later.
2024-03-11 20:08:25
#agreement #working #conditions #meal #deliverers
