The EU’s Platform Work Directive aims to end worker misclassification and exploitative algorithms, but its success depends on genuine platform compliance.
After two turbulent years of negotiations between the European Commission, Parliament, and Council, the European Union has finally agreed on a groundbreaking legal framework: the Platform Work Directive. This directive aims to address two pressing issues: the misclassification of platform workers and the challenges posed by algorithmic management.
Despite acknowledgment of challenges, there is considerable optimism about this step forward. Over the next two years, member states are expected to incorporate the directive into their national legislation, establishing a presumption of employment for platform workers and creating mechanisms to prevent opaque and exploitative uses of algorithmic management. However, one crucial question has been largely overlooked: how will platforms respond to these regulatory changes?
Most stakeholders involved in the process assume that, despite their earlier resistance to the directive, platforms will comply with the new regulatory frameworks in every country they operate. This expectation aligns with the EU’s foundational principles of a market economy. Yet, the adaptive nature of platform companies may complicate this process—or even derail it.
Platforms have often been described as “institutional chameleons” due to their ability to reshape their business models and operational strategies to fit different social and legal contexts. As shown in our research, recently published in Socio-Economic Review, this adaptability allows platforms to navigate regulatory landscapes in ways that may hinder the effective reclassification of platform workers, undermining the directive’s intent to protect workers from precarity. This concern was highlighted by Commissioner Schmidt when the directive’s first draft was released.
To better understand how events might unfold, our study examined Spain, the first EU member state to introduce a rebuttable presumption of employment for platform workers (albeit limited to couriers) in its Labour Code. This reform, known as the Riders’ Law, came into effect in August 2021, prior to the EU directive’s first draft. Our findings, based on the first year of the law’s implementation and the responses of three major platforms, suggest that full compliance with the law cannot be taken for granted.
Even the most compliant of the three companies—despite publicly supporting the Riders’ Law—defaulted to part-time work arrangements for couriers. Many of these couriers, however, worked close to full-time hours by taking advantage of Spanish overtime regulations. This arrangement, combined with rotating shifts, led to income uncertainty and challenges in maintaining a healthy work-life balance for many workers. Some interviewees reported intense work rhythms, excessive workloads, and intrusive micromanagement by dispatchers, further highlighting the difficulties of implementing such regulations effectively.
In another case, we observed a platform shifting from directly engaging independent contractors to outsourcing courier management to third-party companies, commonly referred to as fleets. These fleets managed couriers as salaried employees. While full-time work was more common under this arrangement, we found a complex and opaque network of contracting and subcontracting. This system subjected workers to unfair pay practices, including unreimbursed work expenses, unpaid labour, and increased vulnerability to dismissal by exploiting the Spanish Labour Code. Once again, couriers with prior experience noted intensified work rhythms and heightened surveillance by dispatchers.
The third case involved a platform that altered its operations to bypass the employment presumption entirely, thereby retaining its workers as independent contractors. As both our research and the investigation by Spanish authorities revealed, these operational adjustments did little to change the subordinate relationship between workers and the platform. These changes were clearly designed to evade compliance with the law. In addition, we uncovered evidence of the company condoning exploitative practices, including the use of rented accounts, which enabled undocumented workers to engage in food delivery.
Despite all these issues being well-known to all stakeholders we interviewed (workers, unions, labour inspectors, and even middle managers), no penalties had been enforced against the company after a year of the Riders’ Law implementation—tacitly allowing the company to continue operating with cosmetic rather than meaningful changes. Only recently has sustained pressure from fines issued in 2022 and 2023 led to a significant shift, with the company announcing that it would finally reclassify its couriers as employees. However, it remains to be seen how this transition will be executed, particularly regarding the contractual terms and conditions offered to workers. Equally important will be the new labour processes, monitoring, and control mechanisms introduced, as these could shape couriers’ day-to-day experiences and potentially replicate previous issues under a different guise.
As EU member states prepare to reclassify platform workers as employees under the Platform Work Directive, two key lessons emerge from the Spanish experience. First, while the directive brings hope to millions of misclassified platform workers, compliance from platform companies should not be taken for granted. Member states must establish robust enforcement mechanisms and impose penalties that cannot be easily circumvented. Offenders must not be allowed to continuously sidestep the law by exploiting loopholes. Penalties or sanctions should be applied promptly to prevent lawsuits from dragging on for years, which would undermine the effectiveness of regulatory reforms and frustrate the intended protections for workers.
Second, while it is necessary to reclassify workers to provide them with basic protections, this alone will not resolve the broader issue of precarious work. Member states must address systemic issues such as involuntary part-time work, unfair penalties, and dismissal policies. Closing existing legal loopholes is essential to improving workers’ security and well-being. Achieving this may challenge the interests of other businesses beyond the platform economy, but comprehensive labour reform is crucial to advancing workers’ rights. Piecemeal legislation will not suffice.
Ultimately, ensuring the success of the Platform Work Directive requires a broad and coordinated effort to address all factors contributing to workers’ insecurity. Anything less risks falling short of the directive’s promise to transform platform work for the betterment of those directly involved.
Tiago Vieira is a PhD candidate at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. His research is dedicated to exploring algorithmic management impact on firms and workers' experience, both in digital platforms and conventional workplaces.
Pedro Mendonça is an Associate Professor of Work and Employment at Heriot-Watt University, whose research focuses on improving working conditions for gig and platform workers, with a particular emphasis on supporting migrant and marginalised populations.