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EU Businesses

Delivery, Ride-Hailing Firms Fight EU Plan for Gig Workers (bloomberg.com) 34

Companies that run food delivery and ride-hailing apps are concerned that the European Union will push for gig workers to be considered employees rather than self-employed under a forthcoming proposal aimed at bolstering their labor rights. From a report: The draft European Commission proposal, seen by Bloomberg, would apply to any company that controls digital workers' performance by determining pay, controlling communication with customers, or offering future work based on previous performance -- a move that would be sure to hit companies like Uber Technologies, Deliveroo and Bolt Technology if implemented. These workers would have the "rebuttable presumption of employment," according to the draft, which would mean there is an employment arrangement no matter how the contract is worded. The EU's executive arm doesn't have the authority to mandate labor laws across the bloc and would leave it to EU countries to interpret the rules. The proposal, which is expected to made public next week, said some workers will still be considered "self-employed" but doesn't make clear which ones. Platforms that rely on gig work are pushing back against the commission's plans, which they argue risk putting food delivery workers and drivers out of work. They warn against stricter rules like those implemented by Spain, which prompted Deliveroo to pull out of the country and cost thousands of food delivery workers their jobs.
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Delivery, Ride-Hailing Firms Fight EU Plan for Gig Workers

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  • would be helpful to see how other non-gig 'jobs' are classified

    hard to say, and I'm just inferring that there is an accurate definition of a 'gig' job... but the idea that "...determining pay, controlling communication with customers, or offering future work based on previous performance..." seems applicable to *any* type of 'pay me to do something' arrangement

    put another way, are there jobs in which "...determining pay, controlling communication with customers, or offering future work based on previous pe

    • by splutty ( 43475 )

      Evaluation based on 20 minutes of work vs evaluation based on months of work.

      Where the first evaluation isn't done by people that have any knowledge, and the second supposedly is.

      • by jm007 ( 746228 )

        perhaps I get what you're saying... but how is that codified into laws/regulations? taking your example, it implies that 20mins is too little but that there is an amount that would make a situation either a gig or a job; so are we to pick some fairly arbitrary minumum number of time units and that's where the line is? and this has to also make sense for all jobs, situations, contexts, etc.

        and to me, that's the main point... how does one put that in law form and yet not have a bunch of unintended side-eff

        • 20mins on there clock vs maybe 2-4 hour shift that you are really working.

          They don't to pay for time of being open waiting for an call
          Time of going back to your base area after an run
          Time of after an call for it to be ready to make your run.
          ETC.

        • by splutty ( 43475 )

          One giant red flag is when you're not allowed/unable to actually negotiate contract terms. If you get a boilerplate "contractor" contract that is open ended, non-negotiable, and pays per item/task/procedure, and includes no provisions for anything, then that's a gig contract.

          0 permanence, 0 provisions, 0 influence.

  • by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Wednesday December 01, 2021 @05:10PM (#62037311)

    These people are already employees. What the EU is trying to do here is provide guidance to speed up the court cases already ongoing in several countries, and spur other governments to also take this to court as well. The existing labour laws already cover this. What the EU is doing here is defining what "platform work" is so that the rulings can be easily and quickly applied consistently across the bloc under existing laws.

    A contractor who can't set rates or negotiate working conditions is not a contractor. Uber has so far failed in court in most of the legal challenges of the definition of these employees on this basis.

  • This goes both ways. Many experience *gig* workers do choose their assignments.

    Just today there was an article about DoorDasher showing leaving "no tip" orders on the counter: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/n... [dailydot.com] . And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

    After becoming an employee, they will be forced to work certain hours/shift, do take up jobs they would not otherwise pick, and not allowed to "multi-task" between different apps. Overall it is a net loss for many ... but of course not not all gig workers.

    • I'll confess I had no idea that a Doordasher could refuse to pick up an order. I guess kind of like Uber, the worker gets to see the order and where it has to go and how much it pays, and they can either accept it or not (though I believe with Uber if you don't respond to enough rides they drop you from the service)? What happens if you order from Doordash and no one picks it up? What happens if you order and it sits for an hour before someone picks it up? Can you refuse the food or cancel the order aft

      • by stikves ( 127823 )

        They can also choose not to deliver at certain hours or locations. My cousin used to do these, and can optimize for best payouts.

        But if you need to earn a lot, then you become less picky. Not the best way to feed a family of four+, but still better than alternatives (working at the mall, delivering pizza, unemployment).

  • by WillAffleckUW ( 858324 ) on Wednesday December 01, 2021 @07:30PM (#62037829) Homepage Journal

    They're employees.

    Treat them like employees.

    NEXT!

  • ...becoming like the USA with child poverty rates between Bulgaria & Romania (both of which are in the EU) https://borgenproject.org/coun... [borgenproject.org] It makes sense to prevent assholes from getting obscenely rich by impoverishing their citizens, you know, the British way which after the war of independence then became the American way. The EU badly needs to reform its labour laws to avoid becoming like the USA. Fair jobs & a living wage for everyone doesn't sound like too much to ask, does it?
  • There is a cost threshold where automation will be cheaper than people. These regulations may look good on paper but they'll just make that transition happen sooner.

  • Stop legitimizing these parasitic corporate vultures by using their propaganda terms.

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