Improving Working Conditions in the Gig Economy: The EU’s Proposed Platform Work Directive

The past five years have seen a sustained pushback against the gig economy’s insistence that platform workers should not enjoy access to legal protections afforded to employees, with Supreme Courts in countries including France, Spain, and the UK ruling that platforms are employers. Legislators are increasingly weighing in, too: a recent Spanish ‘Riders Law’ tackles both gig economy employment status and the rise of algorithmic management, which is the automation of employer functions from hiring through to firing. Platform work was also expressly included as a regulatory priority in European Commissioner Schmit’s Mission Letter in 2019, leading to the adoption of today’s proposals. Read more