European Parliament adopts Platform Work Directive and introduces stringent rules protecting workers’ data

On Wednesday 24 April 2024, MEPs adopted the text of the new Directive on the working conditions of platform workers. As can be learned from the press release published on the Parliament’s institutional website, the Directive “aim[s] to ensure that platform workers have their employment status classified correctly and to correct bogus self-employment”by introducing “a presumption of an employment relationship (as opposed to self-employment) that is triggered when facts indicating control and direction are present, according to national law and collective agreements […]”.

Among the initiatives introduced by the Directive, as far as is of interest here, there are limitations on the processing of personal data carried out by means of automated monitoring or decision-making or systems. For example, the following may not be subject to any processing operation: (i) data on the emotional or psychological state of the person performing platform work; (ii) personal data in relation to private conversations; (iii) data belonging to the category of special data (former sensitive data) or biometric data or, again, (iv) the data of the worker who carries out activities through a digital platform may not be collected when he or she is not carrying out his or her activity through the platform itself.

These provisions will apply from the start of the recruitment and selection procedures and for the entire duration of the relationship. It is understood that, given the type of processing and the high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, processing of personal data by a digital work platform will be subject to specific impact assessments under Article 35 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The impact assessments carried out by the employer will then have to be shared with the workers’ representatives.

Another key element is the transparency obligations. Persons who perform work through digital platforms will have to be promptly made aware, in a transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form using clear and plain language, about the categories of decisions that are taken or supported or by automated decision-making or monitoring systems. The Italian national legal system is already familiar with this aspect following the introduction of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the adoption of the so-called “Transparency Decree”.

Finally, it is understood that Member States will have to ensure that digital work platforms guarantee sufficient human resources to effectively monitor and assess the impact of individual decisions taken or supported by automated decision-making or monitoring systems.

◊◊◊◊

Next steps

The text approved by the European Parliament will now also have to be formally adopted by the Council and then published in the Official Journal of the European Union. After publication, each Member State will have two years to incorporate the new provisions into its national law.

Other related insights:

• Italian Transparency Decree obligations continue to apply to fully automated systems (Norme e Tributi Plus Lavoro of Il Sole 24 Ore, 7 August 2023 – Vittorio De Luca, Alessandra Zilla, Martina De Angeli)
• Violation of the Transparency Decree on the matter of automated tools entails anti-union conduct also if it concerns riders (Norme & Tributi Plus Diritto of Il Sole 24 Ore, 5 May 2023 – Alberto De Luca, Luigi Picciarelli)