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Brussels — The European Commission announced on Thursday a draft rule to provide benefits to many workers, including courier companies in online platform companies, including Uber and Deliveroo employee benefits.
This is the world’s first proposal that needs to be overwhelmed by EU countries and lawmakers before it becomes a law, with the European Union regulating technology companies and creating a fair competition between online and traditional companies. It shows the latest attempt to secure.
“No one is trying to kill, stop, or disrupt the development of the platform economy,” Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicholas Schmidt said at a press conference presenting the proposal. ..
But he said rules are needed to ensure that the new business model adheres to labor laws and social standards.
EU executives said the draft rule could apply to up to 5.5 million workers out of 28 million working for online platform companies across blocks in 27 countries.
Internet companies that set wages and standards of conduct for courier companies should be classified as employees with minimum wage, paid leave, and pension rights, according to the proposed rules.
Online food ordering and delivery companies, which are generally in the red in industries that are considered ripe for integration, have filed proceedings in Europe and the United States, making deliverers self-employed rather than employees. I classified it as, but the results are mixed.
Jitse Groen, CEO of JustEatTakeaway.com, Europe’s largest food delivery company, said he “welcomed” the proposed EU regulations, with mixed reactions.
However, the lobby group “Delivery Platforms Europe,” which includes Uber, Deliveroo, Glovo, and Delivery Hero, said in a statement that part-time drivers most want flexibility in working hours, and the proposed rules lead to unemployment. Stated.
Petra Bolster, a Dutch trade union FNV who won a lawsuit against Deliveroo and Uber over employment, said the proposal included a list of five tests to help determine if a courier is self-employed. Said.
“This is simple because the platform uses it as a toolkit to circumvent standards and circumvent everything,” she said. “Avoiding employment costs is their overall profit model.”
Under the EU’s proposal, a company is considered an employer if it oversees the performance of workers through electronic means, limits their ability to work hours and choose jobs, and prevents them from working for third parties. increase.
Importantly, this proposal transfers the burden of proof to the company in the event of a dispute over whether the worker is a self-employed contractor or an employee.
Jeffreys analyst Giles Thorne said the EU’s proposal would not destroy the online ordering and shipping model that remains here.
He said the EU move is most often seen as an intervention to empower the most vulnerable courier companies in the chain between restaurants, software platforms and consumers.
The courier “will be a little more economical and platform, and there will be a little less restaurants and consumers,” he said.
A similar intervention in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic has reached the upper limit on fees. Uber, DoorDash, and Grubhub may charge orders to restaurants that are already suffering business losses.
For consumers, the long-term consequences of European protection for workers can be a slight increase in either price or shipping charges.
But “I would bet the lowest money on people continuing to order bento boxes online,” Thorn said.
Fu Yun Qi and Toby Sterling
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