MEPs approved minimum rights for workers with on-demand,
voucher-based or platform jobs, such as Uber or Deliveroo, in a
vote on Tuesday.
The law, already agreed with EU ministers, grants a set of
minimum rights for those in casual or short-term employment,
on-demand workers, intermittent workers, voucher-based workers,
platform workers, as well as paid trainees and apprentices if
they work a minimum of three hours per week and 12 hours per four
weeks on average. Self-employed workers will be excluded from the
new rules.
Increased transparency
All workers need to be informed from day one as a general
principle, and no later than seven days where justified, of the
essential aspects of their employment contract, such as a
description of duties, a starting date, the duration,
remuneration, standard working day or reference hours for those
with unpredictable work schedules.
Better protection for new forms of employment
The specific set of rights to cover new forms of employment
includes:
- Workers with on-demand contracts or similar forms of
employment should benefit from a minimum level of predictability
such as predetermined reference hours and reference days. They
should also be able to refuse, without consequences, an
assignment outside predetermined hours or be compensated if the
assignment was not cancelled in time.
- Member states shall adopt measures to prevent abusive
practices, such as limits to the use and duration of the
contract.
- The employer should not prohibit, penalise or hinder workers
from taking jobs with other companies if this falls outside the
work schedule established with that employer.
New rules for probationary period and training
Probationary periods will be no longer than six months or
proportionate to the expected duration of the contract in the
case of fixed-term employment. A renewed contract for the same
function will not result in a new probationary period.
Finally, the employer will provide mandatory training, which will
count as working time, free of charge. When possible, such
training should be completed within working hours.
Quote
Enrique Calvet Chambon (ALDE, ES), the rapporteur said : “This
directive is the first big step towards implementation of the
European Pillar of Social Rights, affecting all EU workers. All
workers who have been in limbo will now be granted minimum rights
thanks to this directive, and the European Court of Justice
rulings, from now on no employer will be able to abuse the
flexibility in the labour market.”
Next steps
The final text was adopted with 466 votes to 145 and 37
abstentions. The member states will have three years to put the
rules into practice
