The 27 member states of the European Union have today finally approved legislation that strengthens the rights of workers on digital platforms such as Uber or Deliveroo.

The text provides for the recognition as employees of many people who currently work under independent status as drivers or distributors (delivery).

But how this will be done remains unclear and depends on national regulations while the text was supposed to create a harmonized European framework.

The directive can now be implemented after its publication in the EU Journal. Member countries have two years to incorporate it into their legislation, the EU Council explained.

The text was ratified by a very large majority by the European Parliament at the end of April, following a political agreement reached with great difficulty in early March between the negotiators of the member states and the European Parliament, against a background of intense behind-the-scenes pressure from the companies concerned.

The European Commission estimates at “at least 5.5 million” out of a total of almost 30 million, the number of workers on the platforms who are registered as self-employed and therefore unfairly deprived of the social advantages of wage employment.

Initially, the text proposed at the end of 2021 by the Commission created a presumption of employment based on unified EU-wide objective criteria: the fact that a platform sets pay levels, remotely supervises the provision of services, does not allow employees of choosing their own hours or refusing assignments, forcing them to wear a uniform, or even prohibiting them from working for other businesses.

But the directive finally adopted revokes this list, leaving much autonomy to member countries.

A “legitimate presumption” of employment should be introduced in each of the 27 member countries’ legal systems.

It will be triggered when the facts show ‘control’ of the workers by the company. But these facts will be established “in accordance with national law and national collective agreements, taking into account EU jurisprudence”.

The text will however allow platform workers to challenge their employment status by citing this “presumption” and the burden of proof will be on employers.