OSH News

European Parliament and Council have reached a political agreement on a proposed directive to improve working conditions for platform workers. The new rules feature two key improvements: to help determine the correct employment status of people working for digital platforms and to foster a more transparent and fair use of algorithm systems in the workplace.

The directive, which was proposed by the European Commission in December 2021, will affect the EU’s 28 million platform workers (currently, at least 5.5 million of these workers may be wrongly classified as self-employed).

Digital platform work is the first priority area of EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign 'Safe and healthy work in the digital age', which will be promoted as of February 2024. The campaign highlights opportunities, such as flexibility and autonomy for workers and employment options for those who have difficulties in accessing the labour market. However, it also considers risks and challenges, for example algorithmic management, working in isolation, or little control over workload. It also presents policy initiatives to prevent risks related to digital platform work. 

Read the press release of the European Commission

Learn more about the opportunities and risks of digital work