EU platform work and algorithmic management regulation

The European Union is moving to regulate platform work through a directive designed to address the legal status and working conditions of digital application workers. This regulation focuses on how platforms use algorithms for task allocation, monitoring, and performance evaluation, emphasizing that employment status should be based on actual working conditions rather than contract labels. In Poland, the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has drafted legislation to implement this directive into national law.

Concurrently, gig economy workers in Europe and the UK are taking legal action against algorithmic management. A lawsuit filed at the Amsterdam District Court, representing approximately 241,000 Uber drivers, alleges that ‘Dynamic Pay’ systems breach data protection rules through opaque automated decision-making. Workers in the food delivery sector across the UK and Ireland have also demanded transparency regarding the ‘black box’ of automation, citing a correlation between increased algorithmic control and declining wages.