The Platform Workers Directive was adopted by the European Parliament in April this year. The Directive came into in force, as of 1 December 2024. However, it may still be some time until the Directive has a direct impact, as EU Member States now have a period of two years to implement the Directive into domestic law.
The Platform Workers Directive aims to improve working conditions for and protect personal data of those engaged in ‘platform work’. The Directive introduces measures regarding how to determine the employment status of platform workers (with a limited requirement for EU Member States to implement a rebuttable presumption of employment status), regulating the use of algorithms on the platforms, and improve overall transparency within platform work by introducing significant information and consultation obligations.
The Directive applies to digital labour platforms operating in the EU, regardless of their place of establishment.
