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EC proposes new directive to improve gig economy work conditions:
Millions of people working for gig economy platforms in Europe could be reclassified as workers rather than self-employed, entitling them to a much wider range of rights and workplace protections, under a proposal put forward by the European Commission (EC).
The EC estimates that about 5.5 million people – working for the likes of Uber, Deliveroo, Amazon Mechanical Turk and others – could see their employment status change if the proposal is adopted by member states.
Based on the initial draft, which was originally presented by the EC in December 2021 and aimed at improving the working conditions of those working in the gig economy through digital labour platforms, the proposed directive would establish a set of five "control criteria" to determine whether or not a platform is an "employer".
This includes: whether the platform has a role in determining or limiting remuneration; whether it requires workers to follow specific appearance rules, such as wearing a uniform; whether it supervises the performance of work, including by electronic means; whether it restricts people's freedom to organise their own work; and whether it restricts the possibility of people building their own client basis or ability to work for a third party.
If the platform meets at least two of these criteria, it will legally be viewed as an employer, and the workers will be automatically reclassified.
"For those being reclassified as workers, this means the right to a minimum wage (where it exists), collective bargaining, working time and health protection, the right to paid leave or improved access to protection against work accidents, unemployment and sickness benefits, as well as contributory old-age pensions," said the EC in a press release.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 09 2022, @05:34PM
Sorry, you're missing the big picture. Gig work predates the internet, and thus, all these countries already have working laws against turning regular employment into gig jobs. Adding "with a computer on the internet" would not make that any easier for their tax agencies to police. Really, this regulation is highly restrictive, going way beyond what would be needed to protect regular jobs from the gig menace, but probably matching the worst and most short-sighted of country-level regulations.
What is missed here is that due in large part to those old laws/regulations, most present day gig jobs never replaced normal employment. They were created by technological advances. Too often, I've seem regulatory resistance to new ideas with extremely poor justification. My take is that it's actually straight protectionism - attempts to destroy whole budding industries in order to protect niche markets like taxi businesses.
As I see it, this will destroy most of those 5.5 million jobs for terrible reasons without offering replacement work. But apparently some of us are willing to throw millions of poor people to the wolves to protect them from gig work. Let's consider that AC post again:
If gig work sucks as much as alleged, then why aren't those people switching over to the more desirable regulated work? The real problem is a combination of two things. First, nannies who can't accept that workers are capable of making their own decisions about how to better their lives. And second, a refusal to acknowledge the benefits of gig work and other shunned employment because that would run counter to their ideological premises.
For example, one huge thing that keeps getting missed about gig work is that it's a vastly easier to schedule other important tasks - like looking for work or working a primary, regulated job. You just don't do gig work when you're doing those tasks. Regular employment would get all huffy about you not showing up to work because you're interviewing elsewhere. Gig employers don't know or care.