Activities of Elżbieta RAFALSKA related to 2019/2186(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform workers - New forms of employment linked to digital development (debate)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas platform work is not surveyed and included in statistics in many Member States, and it is therefore not possible to determine precisely or even approximately which group of workers is concerned and, even more so, to what extent;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the popularity of some platforms, in particular transport and food delivery, increased significantly during the pandemic, mainly because they provided access to certain services during a period of isolation; whereas more than 60 % of EU residents say that, even after the COVID-19 crisis, they do not intend to stop using online services, including, for instance, the possibility of ordering meals online1a; __________________ 1ahttps://www.dw.com/pl/ue-chce-lepiej- chroni%C4%87-pracuj%C4%85cych-za- po%C5%9Brednictwem-platform- cyfrowych/a-56676431
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas most platform workers have another job or other source of income; whereas platform workers tend to be low paid, but with a few relatively good incomes; whereas workers in the platform economy tend to be younger and more highly educated than the wider population1b; __________________ 1b The Social Protection of Workers in the Platform Economy https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/ etudes/STUD/2017/614184/IPOL_STU(20 17)614184_EN.pdf
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas people working in the platform economy are generally classified as formally self-employedoften classified as self-employed although many of them claim to be an employee1c; whereas there are different reasons of this uncertainty regarding their status such as having a regular job as employees or self-employed (in a more traditional sense) and therefore being covered by standard employment legislation or not being sure regarding their status and seeing themselves as employees only because they provide a certain type of service with regularity through the same platform; whereas, as such, these people domay not benefit from the equivalent social, labour, health and safety protection that are connected to an employment contract in most countries; __________________ 1c Estimates from the COLLEEM survey reveal that when asked about their current employment situation, 75.7 % of the platform workers claimed to be an employee (68.1%) or self-employed (7.6%). https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repos itory/bitstream/JRC112157/jrc112157_pu bsy_platform_workers_in_europe_science _for_policy.pdf
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the determination of employment relationships or employment contracts is governed by the laws of the individual Member States of the Union; whereas, exceptionally, the Union has competence only in respect of the free movement of workers or, in part, the equal treatment of workers, which requires a uniform application of the concept of worker;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas the legal form of the employment relationship or employment contract varies from country to country and is a matter of national competence; whereas the characteristics of employment which enable it to be recognised as an employment relationship vary greatly from one Member State to another, as is clearly shown by the extensive research carried out by the labour law representatives from those Member States1d; whereas persons working via online platforms could thus be considered as workers in the individual Member States and not throughout the Union; __________________ 1dRegulating the employment relationship in Europe: A guide to Recommendation No. 198, European Labour Law Network 2013
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that the issue of social security remains an exclusive competence of the Member States; calls on the Member States to take action to protect platform workers, especially those whose legal situation is unclear; stresses that platform workers should enjoy labour rights if, under the law of the Member State concerned, the work they perform fulfils the conditions applicable to an employment relationship;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Believes that this legal uncertainty must be urgently addressed, while acknowledging that it cannot be easily solved by a one-size-fits-all approach; believes that any proposal must recognise the heterogeneity of platforms and of platform workerany proposal must recognise the heterogeneity of platforms and of platform workers, as well as the heterogeneity of the socio-economic environments and practices in the Member States, and take into account the current digital labour platforms model, where some platform workers are genuinely self-employed and wish to remain so;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a legislativen initiative to improve the working conditions of platform workers; calls on the Commission, if the social partners do not express the wish to initiate the process provided for in Article 155 of the TFEU, to put forward a new directiverecommendation or guidelines on platform workers in order to guarantee them a minimum set of rights regardless of their employment status, and to address the specificities of platform work; underlines that proposed solutions should help platform workers to continue their professional activity with their preferred flexibility to organise and control their own status (for example, as secondary source of income), workload and schedule;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that any proposal should be preceded by a thorough research regarding situation of the platform workers during COVID-19 crisis;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the need to better combat bogus self-employment by means of a directiverecommendation or guidelines, so as to cover platform workers which are fulfilling the conditions characteristic of an employment relationship based on the actual performance of work, and not on the parties’ description of the relationship; is of the opinion that special attention should be given to digital labour platforms that strongly organise conditions and remuneration of online and on-location platform work, which could be used as guidance for determining the degree of responsibility of platforms towards platform workers;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – indent 3
Paragraph 6 – indent 3
– address the current lack of transparency by ensuring the provision of essential information regarding working conditions and rules of cooperation, the method of calculating the price or fee, and transparency in the event of a change in the terms, conditions and procedures for temporary or permanent deactivation, if any, which should be preceded by consultation;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that some platform workers may be subject to increased health and safety risks; is of the opinion that the Commission proposal must address the occupational health and safety of platform workers as well as establish minimum requirements to enable them exercise a right to disconnect without any adverse consequences;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recognises that freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are fundamental rights for all workers, and believes a directive on platform workers should ensure that these rights are effective and enforced; notes the potential for imbalanced relationships between digital labour platforms and workers, who may lack the individual bargaining power to negotiate their terms and conditions; notes further that there are also practical issues such as a lack of common means of communication and opportunities to meet online or in person, which can prevent collective representation in practice; calls on the Commission to address such impediments in its proposal; stresses the need for platform workers and platforms to be properly represented in order to facilitate social dialogue;
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers that platform workers should be entitled to transparent, non- discriminatory, trustworthy and ethical algorithms; believes that algorithm transparency should apply to task distribution, ratings and interactions, while respecting trade secrets, and that an intelligible explanation of the functioning of the algorithm on the way tasks are assigned, ratings are granted, the deactivation procedure and pricing should always be provided, as well as information in a clear and up-to-date manner on any significant changes to the algorithm; is of the opinion that trustworthy and ethical algorithm implies that all decisions are contestable and reversible, and that incentive practices or exceptional bonuses in particular should not lead to risky behaviours; is convinced that non- discriminatory algorithms are those which prevent gender and other social biases;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recalls that all online platforms must ensure full compliance with EU non- discrimination and data protection law; believes further that platform workers should have access to all data concerning their own activities, understand how their personal information is processed, and have the right to export or delete their ratings; believes that the possibility of a portable rating certificate, recognised between similar platforms, should be explored;