29 Amendments of João PIMENTA LOPES related to 2021/0414(COD)
Amendment 22 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) Digitalisation is changing the world of work, improving productivity and enhancing flexibilityenhancing flexibility (whether desired or imposed), while also carrying some risks for employment and working conditions, for the health and safety of workers and for the protection of the fundamental right to privacy, tax law, and labour law in general. Algorithm-based technologies, including automated monitoring and decision-making systems, have enabled the emergence and growth of digital labour platforms. However, the architecture or design of the business model of digital labour platforms, particularly in the area of transport, has adverse consequences for workers and is often responsible for bad working conditions, the circumvention of labour law, greater insecurity, and the endangering and exploitation of workers.
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
5a. The persistent non-compliances and the precarious nature of employment relationships are also due to the lack of political will by governments to require compliance with labour law, on the one hand and, on the other, to equip authorities with competence for inspection in the Member States with the technical, human and financial resources to monitor and penalise non-compliances;
Amendment 32 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
5a. In order to ensure their safety at work, digital platform workers in the transport and logistics sector should have appropriate working and safety equipment provided (particularly for deliverers on bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles), as well as vehicles in good working order and the necessary training, in line with their status.
Amendment 34 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5 b (new)
Recital 5 b (new)
5b. In order to ensure the safety of workers, digital platforms should, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, communicate the identity of the clients making use of the services offered by the platform, so that drivers, and particularly female drivers, and ride- hailing drivers are aware of the identity of the people they are carrying and so that couriers, and particular female couriers, on bicycles know who they are going to deliver meals to.
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5 b (new)
Recital 5 b (new)
5b. Member States should equip labour inspectorates with the technical, human and financial resources to ensure, as a minimum, compliance with the ILO recommended ratio of one labour inspector per 10 000 workers;
Amendment 44 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7 a (new)
Recital 7 a (new)
7a. In many Member States, the existence of an employment relationship between platform workers and the respective digital labour platforms has been recognised by judicial means. That recognition should provide a framework for case-law in this area. To avoid infringements of the principle of equality and non-discrimination between workers, it must be borne in mind that the effects of recognising the existence of an employment relationship, according to the relevant national legislation and the provisions of this Directive, date from the start of the contractual relationship.
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18 a (new)
Recital 18 a (new)
18a. When establishing or introducing practical arrangements for information, consultation, negotiation or dialogue on labour matters, employers and the workers’ representatives should work in a spirit of cooperation and with due regard for their reciprocal rights and obligations, making joint efforts to improve working conditions and workers’ rights. Digital labour platforms will ensure, together with the trade unions, that elections for workers’ representatives comply with fundamental rights and freedoms and are in line with applicable national law and practices.
Amendment 58 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18 a (new)
Recital 18 a (new)
18a. The persistent non-compliances and the precarious nature of employment relationships are also due to the lack of political will by governments to require compliance, on the one hand and, on the other, to equip authorities with competence for inspection in the Member States with the technical, human and financial resources to monitor and penalise non-compliances.
Amendment 59 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18 b (new)
Recital 18 b (new)
18b. Platform workers in an employment relationship are entitled, in particular, to have their employment relationship governed by an employment contract, set pay with working hours defined according to national legislation, and which should not exceed 40 hours a week, the right to receive compensation for overtime and night work, decent working conditions, meal facilities and access to bathrooms and rest areas, sickness and workplace accident protection, parental leave and paid holidays, and to be informed of the working conditions and algorithms used by the platforms, and that these algorithms will be erased from illegal mechanisms for the imposition of penalties, punishments and fines.
Amendment 64 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Ensuring correct determination of the employment status should not prevent the improvement of working conditions of genuine self-employed persons performing platform work. Where a digital labour platform decides – on a purely voluntary basis or in agreement with the persons concerned – to pay for social protection, accident insurance or other forms of insurance, training measures or similar benefits to self-employed persons working Furthermore, workers are either employees or self-employed. The creation of a third status, which would be detrimental to transport workers, enabling the digital platform to benefit from the advantages of employer status withrough that platform, those benefits as such should not be regarded as determining elements indicating the existence of an employment relationshipt assuming the corresponding obligations, is in no way relevant and should under no circumstances be opened up as a possibility by this Directive.
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) When digital labour platforms control certain elements of the performance of work, they act like employers in an employment relationship. Direction and control, or l, since that is an indication that the activity performed by the worker is an integral part of the activity of the platform. Legal subordination, is an essential element of the definition of an employment relationship in the Member States and in the case-law of the Court of Justice. Therefore contractual relationships in which digital labour platforms exert a certain level of control over certain elements ofcontrol or supervise the performance of work should be deemed, by virtue of a legal presumption, to be an employment relationship between the platform and the person performing platform work through it. As a result, that person should be classified ais a worker having all the rights and obligations in accordance with that status, as laid down in national and Union law, and collective agreements and practice. The legal presumption should apply in all relevant adminiof employee strative and legal proceedings and should benefit the person performing platform work. Authorities in charge of verifying the compliance with or enforcing relevant legislation, such as labour inspectorates, social protection bodies or tax authorities, should also be able to rely on that presumption. Member States should put us should be generally applicable and should benefit all persons performing place a national framework to reduce litigation and increase legal certaintytform work.
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30 a (new)
Recital 30 a (new)
30a. The use of algorithmic scheduling systems heightens the use of precarious, short shifts and unstable and unpredictable schedules. Algorithmic direction, evaluation, and discipline intensify work effort by increasing monitoring, control and supervision of work, raising the pace required from workers, minimising gaps in workflow and extending work activity beyond the conventional workplace and working hours. These algorithmic systems are present on all digital labour platforms and form part of their business model in order to align the service they supply with clients’ demands. However, workers and their representatives often only have a low degree of visibility of or control over these algorithmic systems, even though the systems organise work and impact working conditions. This is particularly true for freight transport and delivery services.
Amendment 79 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 42
Recital 42
(42) Platforms that are active in the transport, delivery or logistics sectors are companies like any other and must comply with the regulations and collective agreements in force in the relevant sectors. Information on the number of persons performing platform work through digital labour platforms on a regular basis, their contractual or employment status and the general terms and conditions applicable to those contractual relationships is essential to support labour inspectorates, social protection bodies and other relevant authorities in correctly determining the employment status of persons performing platform work and in ensuring compliance with legal obligations as well as representatives of persons performing platform work in the exercise of their representative functions and should therefore be made accessible to them. Those authorities and representatives should also have the right to ask digital labour platforms for additional clarifications and details, such as basic data on working conditions regarding working time and remuneration. Digital labour platforms must be included in the public register of companies, and the relevant information must be included for all digital labour platforms operating in the country, in order to ensure fair competition between them. This information should include, among other elements, information on the number of workers and the company’s status and turnover.
Amendment 100 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Digital labour platforms exerting the prerogatives of employers, such as supervision, organisation, control of work or sanctions, are companies and shall comply with the corresponding employers’ obligations under national law and collective agreements applicable in the sector of activity, and in particular with regard to labour law, tax law, the financing of social protection and responsibility for health and safety. Platform workers shall fully enjoy employee status in line with national law and sectoral collective agreements, including the right to join a trade union, to organise and to engage in collective bargaining.
Amendment 105 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4.º – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 4.º – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The contractual relationship between a digital labour platform that controls, within the meaning of paragraph 2, the performance of work and a person performing platform work through that platform shall be legally presumed to be an employment relationship. To that effect, Member States shall establish a framework of measures, in accordance with their national legal and judicial systems.
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4.º – paragraph 2
Article 4.º – paragraph 2
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4.º – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 4.º – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Member States shall take 3. Member States shall take supporting measures to ensure the effective implementation of the legal presumption referred to in paragraph 1 while taking into account the impact on start-ups, avoiding capturing the genuine self-employed and supporting the sustainable growth of digital labour platforms. In particular they shall:
Amendment 134 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4.º – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 4.º – paragraph 3 – point b
(b) Develop guidance for digital labour platforms, persons performing platform work and social partnfor their workers, trade unions and organisations representing employers, to understand and implement the legal presumption including on the procedures for rebutting it in accordance with Article 5;
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4.º – paragraph 4
Article 4.º – paragraph 4
Amendment 163 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6.º – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 6.º – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Without prejudice to the obligations and rights of digital labour platforms and platform workers under Directive (EU) 2019/1152, Member States shall require digital labour platforms to inform platform worker and the relevant national legislation, Member States shall guarantee that any decision taken by automated and semi-automated systems does not affect the employment relationship and shall require digital labour platforms to inform, in a clear, transparent and timely manner, their workers, trade unions, labour inspectorates and competent authorities of:
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall ensure that digital labour platforms regularly mall decisions that have an impact on working conditor and evaluate the impact of individual decisions taken or supported by automated monitoring and decision-making systems, as referred to in Article 6(1), on working conditions. ions, health and safety and decisions to suspend accounts shall not be taken by automated or semi-automated monitoring and decision-making systems and that reasons may be given for the decisions, in line with national law and collective agreements. Member States shall ensure that workers, through their representatives, have a right of co- decision in respect of the algorithm systems, and that there is human intervention and human supervision of all the decisions that have an impact on working conditions (such as the organisation of work, working time, remuneration and promotion), especially for important decisions such as disciplinary measures or dismissal.
Amendment 178 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9.º – title
Article 9.º – title
Information and, consultation and participation
Amendment 179 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1
Article 9 – paragraph 1
1. Without prejudice to the rights and obligations under Directive 2002/14/EC, Member States shall ensure information and consultation of platform workers’ representatives or, where there are no such representatives, of the platform workers concerned by digital labour platforms, on decisions likely to lead to the introduction of or substantial changes in the use of automated monitoring and decision-making systems referred to in Article 6(1), in accordance with this Article. Workers’ rights to information and to consultation, access to information for representatives and the competent authorities, and access to evidence should be granted irrespective of whether the algorithm is managed by the digital labour platform or by a sub- contracted service provider which sells its management services to the platform. Moreover, the labour inspectorate must have access to all the contents of the algorithm so that it may scrutinise the algorithmic management criteria.
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 9 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Persons performing platform work shall be granted the right to data portability, including portability of reputational data, or the right not to transfer those data if they do not wish to, as well as the right to rectification, the right to erasure and the right to be forgotten. Digital labour platforms shall make their reputation systems interoperable to ensure that such data transfers may be carried out.
Amendment 182 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9.º – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 9.º – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. For the purposes of this article, the rules laid down in Directive 2009/38/EC on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees shall apply.
Amendment 183 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9.º – paragraph 3
Article 9.º – paragraph 3
3. The trade unions, the platform workers’ representatives or the platform workers concerned mayshould be assisted by an expert of their choice, in so far as this is necessary for them to examine the matter that is the subject of information and consultation and formulate an opinion. Where a digital labour platform has more than 500 platform workers in a Member State, tThe expenses for the expert shall be borne by the digital labour platform, provided that they are proportionate.
Amendment 185 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Where labour, social protection and other relevant authorities exercise their functions in ensuring compliance with legal obligations applicable to the employment status of persons performing platform work and where the representatives of persons performing platform work exercise their representative functions, Member States shall ensure that digital labour platforms make the following information available to them, irrespective of the country in which the platform is established:
Amendment 191 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13.º – paragraph 1
Article 13.º – paragraph 1
Without prejudice to Articles 79 and 82 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 13(1) of Directive 2009/52/EC, Member States shall ensure that persons performing platform work, including those whose employment or other contractual relationship has ended, have access toas well as their trade union organisations, have access to appropriate, speedy, free of charge, fair and efficient procedures and mechanisms for settling disputes regarding the existence and terms of an employment relationship, and effective and impartial dispute resolution and a right to redress, including fair and adequate compensation, in the case of infringements of their rights arising from this Directive or from the prevailing national legislation.
Amendment 197 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 20.º – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 20.º – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. The transposition of this Directive by each Member State shall not conflict with existing provisions of laws or agreements more favourable to workers.