The new EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions in the context of new forms of employment

Abstract

The article examines the reach, protective effects and limitations of the recently adopted European Union (EU) Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions. After explaining the need for a new instrument, the article analyses the Directive’s protective provisions. Cases of the European Court of Justice are presented to provide the wider context and explain how the EU social acquis impacts upon the implementation of the Directive. Finally, new developments in the EU labour and social field are discussed, making recommendations of possible avenues for providing protection to a larger category of workers.

Excluded workers and exempted employers: A qualitative study on domestic workers' access to social protection in the Netherlands

“…Yet it remains unclear to what extent the Directive will actually benefit domestic workers, as enforcement remains a pressing issue. Besides, the Directive still leaves room for the differential treatment of domestic workers in some respects (see Georgiou, 2022). Furthermore, domestic work has been discussed in the recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed (European Commission, 2023), which invites Member States to improve the access to social protection for people with non-standard contracts and workers in specific sectors, like domestic work.…”

“…Yet it remains unclear to what extent the Directive will actually benefit domestic workers, as enforcement remains a pressing issue. Besides, the Directive still leaves room for the differential treatment of domestic workers in some respects (see Georgiou, 2022).…”

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“…The Directive notably constrains Member States to take measures preventing abusive labour market practices characteristic of on-demand employment. Significantly, by relying on the ECJ's jurisprudence on 'workers', the Directive now also allows new categories of workers (such as 'bogus self-employed') to benefit from new kinds of social protection (Georgiou, 2022).…”

An unfinished task? Matching the Platform Work Directive with the EU and international "social acquis"

“…The directive lays down information rights about the organization and the number of guaranteed paid hours. Workers must be informed on how they will be paid for the additional hours worked, when exactly their assignments will start and within what 124 Georgiou (2022b).…”