4 January 2022
A pioneering agreement has been negotiated with trade unions that sets out the working conditions of the home delivery drivers for the online food delivery platform Just Eat, along with their rights to social protection, rest and digital disconnection. The agreement also recognises the right of employees to be informed of the content of the algorithms and artificial intelligence systems the platform uses to govern how work is distributed.
9 December 2021
On 09 December and following a process launched in spring 2021 with the consultation of social partners, the European Commission unveiled a Directive proposal aimed at improving the working conditions of platform workers. Faced with a debate on legal status, the EU Commission chose to define a presumption of salaried status for platform workers, unless a platform does not fulfil the criteria characterising it as an employer. The directive proposal also imposes obligations on platforms over the management of their...
7 December 2021
Strike action planned for Black Friday (26 November) was averted as a result of a national agreement being reached at the end of November between the companies affiliated with Assoespressi (employers’ body) that make deliveries for Amazon, and the relevant trade union bodies (Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, and Uiltrasporti). The social partners agreed on setting out a concerted course of action addressing workloads and work scheduling. The drivers in question immediately obtained a two-hour reduction in their weekly...
2 December 2021
Dissatisfied with the working conditions and pay offered by the young dynamic German start-up and ‘ultra-fast delivery’ platform, employees of Gorillas’ Berlin subsidiary finally succeeded in electing a works council on 27 November 2021. Throughout the process Gorillas management tried to block the election, and notably also in court. Management has also raised the possibility of changing the company’s operational structures.
27 October 2021
The bill, presented by a senator of the current ruling majority party, intends to recognize ‘digital worker’ status for platform-based vehicle for hire drivers and delivery drivers, and to guarantee that their salary rights are respected. In total, six bills aimed at regulating the employment relationship between platforms and their workers are currently awaiting consideration by Congressional labour committees. The executive branch, which is seeking to reform the Federal Labor Law accordingly, is expected to...
17 September 2021
Efforts on the part of the Chinese government to better regulate working conditions in the platform economy are ongoing. As previously reported (see article n°12665), the law on workplace safety – amended in June and effective from 1 September – contains specific mention of the gig economy, and that is not all. In June, seven Chinese state agencies issued a notice on the rights and interests of couriers and riders working for delivery platforms. Then in following month came guidelines to better protect all...
17 June 2021
In recent years, court decisions internationally have increasingly been reclassifying the link between a worker and a work platform as an employment contract. In response, more and more governments are seeking to regulate and frame how these new forms of work develop. How can this new economic model become sustainable and how can workers be protected? Is the employee status indispensable? What social protection and working conditions should apply to platform workers? Planet Labor has reviewed the legal and...
17 June 2021
On 15 June the European Commission launched the second stage consultation of European social partners on better protecting people working through platforms. This follows the Commission’s first consultation stage (c.f. article No.12304) that took place between 24 February and 07 April 2021, and that led to the Commission concluding there was a need for ‘further EU action to ensure basic labour standards and rights to people working through platforms measures’; a need made only more acute by the Covid-19...
27 May 2021
Uber has signed a landmark agreement with the GMB union that allows the union to represent its approximately 70,000 within the UK. This landmark deal marks a departure from the ride-hailing company’s longstanding opposition to any form of union representation. The agreement allows GMB representatives to now contact drivers and discuss significant issues with the group, even if Uber still refuses to set up any real collective bargaining system.
12 May 2021
Spain’s government has approved the so-called ‘Riders’ Law, which frames the status of home delivery platform workers. The text, published as a decree-law in the Official State Bulletin (BOE) on 12 May, recognizes these workers as employees, whereas until now they were considered self-employed. This change now requires companies to pay social contributions for these employees and it also opens their right to leave periods and social protection.
