EU rules on platform work

What is platform work?

Platform work is a form of employment in which organisations or individuals use an online platform to access other organisations or individuals to solve specific problems, or to provide specific services in exchange for payment.

The digital platform economy is growing quickly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream, partly thanks to an increase in food and grocery deliveries. It is becoming an engine for innovation and employment growth.

Platform work comes in many shapes and sizes, sometimes it's also called the 'gig economy'. While the growth of digital platforms has benefitted both businesses and consumers, it has led to the development of a grey zone for many workers when it comes to their employment status.

The EU is the first legislator in the world to attempt proposing specific rules for digital labour platforms.

The directive introduces two key improvements:

it helps determine the correct employment status of people working for digital platforms
it establishes the first EU rules on the use of algorithm systems in the workplace

Workers in digital labour platforms

Over 28 million people in the EU work through one (or more) of these digital labour platforms. In 2025, that number is expected to reach 43 million people.

People working through digital labour platforms perform a whole variety of tasks, including on-site and off-site (remote) ones. For example, these tasks could be delivery, translation, data input, babysitting, elderly care, or taxi driving.

Platform work is generally their secondary source of income, in addition to their regular work.

Platform workers: employed or self-employed?

Currently, the majority of the EU's platform workers, including taxi drivers, domestic workers and food delivery drivers, are formally self-employed. Nevertheless, a number of them have to abide by many of the same rules and restrictions as an employed worker.

This indicates that they are in fact in an employment relationship and should therefore enjoy the labour rights and social protection afforded to employees under national and EU law.

Improving their access to labour rights and social protection would mean also improving the overall quality of the work offered and the employment terms for workers involved in platform work.

This would mean for example that they would have access to sick pay options, unemployment benefits or income support schemes.

While labour laws apply to platform workers who are employees, many platform workers are – at least formally – self-employed. Courts anywhere in the EU decide on the employment status of platform workers on a case-by-case basis.

Member states have different approaches to platform work. National responses to platform work are diverse and are developing unevenly across Europe, national legislation has mostly been adopted in specific sectors, e.g. in the ride-hailing services and/or in the food delivery services sectors.

Illustration: data on digital platform workers.

Spotlight on digital platform workers in the EU (infographic)

New EU rules on platform work

Employment status

The new rules would address cases of misclassification of platform workers and ease the way for such workers to be reclassified as employees, guaranteeing easier access to their rights as employees under EU law.

The agreement reached between the Council and the European Parliament on 8 February 2024 introduces an effective, rebuttable legal presumption. According to this agreement, the relationship between a digital labour platform and a person performing platform work shall be legally presumed to be an employment relationship when facts indicating control and direction, according to national law, collective agreements or practice in force in the member states are found.

If the digital platform wants to rebut this presumption, it must prove that the contractual relationship in question is not an employment relationship.

It is up the member states to set out the modalities of such a legal presumption in their national law. The presumption should make it easier from a procedural perspective for platform workers to legally ascertain their employment status.

Use of algorithms in the workplace

Digital labour platforms use algorithms for human resources management. These systems are used to organise and manage the people performing platform work through their applications or websites.

Under the new rules, workers will have to be informed about the use of automated monitoring and decision-making systems.

Also, digital labour platforms will not be able to process certain kinds of personal data, such as:

personal data on the emotional or psychological state of platform workers
data related to private conversations
data to predict actual or potential trade union activity
data used to infer a worker’s racial or ethnic origin, migration status, political opinions, religious beliefs or health status
biometric data, other than data used for authentication

In any case, under the new rules, these systems need to be monitored by qualified staff, who enjoy special protection from adverse treatment. Human oversight is also guaranteed for significant decisions such as the suspension of accounts.

Enforcement, transparency and traceability

National authorities often struggle to access data on platforms and the people working through them. This is even more difficult when platforms operate in several member states, making it unclear where platform work is performed and by whom.

This directive will clarify existing obligations for digital labour platform to declare work to national authorities. It will also ask platforms to make key information about their activities and the people who work through them available to national authorities.

The platform economy

There are around 500 digital labour platforms operating in the EU. There are digital labour platforms active in every EU country.

The growth of the platform economy is illustrated by the fact that between 2016 and 2020, revenues in the platform economy grew almost fivefold from an estimated €3 billion to around €14 billion.

The biggest revenues are estimated to be in the sectors of delivery and taxi services.

Illustration: an overview on the EU's platform economy.

The EU's platform economy (infographic)

In the Council

Platform workers are already mentioned in some EU laws such as the transparent and predictable working conditions directive.

Reference is also made to platform workers in the Council recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed. The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council reached a political agreement on this recommendation on 6 December 2018.

The Council had discussed new forms of work in 2019 and approved Council conclusions on the topic, asking the Commission to explore possible legislation to ensure workers' protection.

The European Commission put forward its proposal on new rules for platform work to the two co-legislators, the Council and the European Parliament, on 9 December 2021.

In the Council, the file was examined by the Working Party on Social Questions. This working party deals with all legislative and non-legislative work related to employment and social policy.

The Council adopted its position on 12 June 2023. The new rules needed to be negotiated with the European Parliament before they can become EU law.

On 8 February 2024 the Council and the Parliament reached a provisional agreement on platform work, which was approved by employment and social affairs ministers at the Council meeting on 11 March 2024.

On 14 October 2024, the Council adopted new rules for platform work. Following the adoption, member states have two years to incorporate the provisions of the directive into their national legislation.