Determination of correct employment status
1. Member States shall have appropriate and effective procedures in place to verify and ensure the determination of the correct employment status of persons performing platform work, with a view to ascertaining the existence of an employment relationship as defined by the law, collective agreements or practice in force in the Member States, with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice, including through the application of the legal presumption of an employment relationship pursuant to Article 5.
2. The ascertainment of the existence of an employment relationship shall be guided primarily by the facts relating to the actual performance of work, including the use of automated monitoring systems or automated decision-making systems in the organisation of platform work, irrespective of how the relationship is designated in any contractual arrangement that may have been agreed between the parties involved.
3. Where the existence of an employment relationship is established, the party or parties responsible for the obligations of the employer shall be clearly identified in accordance with national legal systems.
Legal presumption
1. The contractual relationship between a digital labour platform and a person performing platform work through that platform shall be legally presumed to be an employment relationship where facts indicating direction and control, in accordance with national law, collective agreements or practice in force in the Member States and with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice, are found. Where the digital labour platform seeks to rebut the legal presumption, it shall be for the digital labour platform to prove that the contractual relationship in question is not an employment relationship as defined by the law, collective agreements or practice in force in the Member States, with consideration to the case-law of the Court of Justice.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, Member States shall establish an effective rebuttable legal presumption of an employment relationship that constitutes a procedural facilitation for the benefit of persons performing platform work. Moreover, Member States shall ensure that the legal presumption does not have the effect of increasing the burden of requirements on persons performing platform work or their representatives in proceedings to determine their correct employment status.
3. The legal presumption provided for in this Article shall apply in all relevant administrative or judicial proceedings where the determination of the correct employment status of person performing platform work is at issue.
The legal presumption shall not apply to proceedings which concern tax, criminal or social security matters. However, Member States may apply the legal presumption in such proceedings as a matter of national law.
4. Persons performing platform work and, in accordance with national law and practice, their representatives shall have the right to initiate the proceedings referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 to determine the correct employment status of the person performing platform work.
5. Where a national competent authority considers that a person performing platform work might be wrongly classified, it shall initiate appropriate actions or proceedings, in accordance with national law and practice, in order to determine the correct employment status of that person.
6. With regard to contractual relationships entered into before and ongoing on 2 December 2026, the legal presumption provided for in this Article shall apply only to the period starting from that date.
Framework of supporting measures
Member States shall establish a framework of supporting measures in order to ensure the effective implementation of and compliance with the legal presumption. In particular, they shall:
(a)
develop appropriate guidance, including in the form of concrete and practical recommendations, in order for digital labour platforms, persons performing platform work and the social partners to understand and implement the legal presumption, including the procedures regarding its rebuttal;
(b)
develop guidance and establish appropriate procedures for national competent authorities in accordance with national law and practice, including on cooperation between national competent authorities, in order to proactively identify, target and pursue digital labour platforms which do not comply with rules applicable to the determination of the correct employment status of persons performing platform work;
(c)
provide for effective controls and inspections conducted by national competent authorities, in accordance with national law or practice and, in particular, provide, where appropriate, for controls and inspections on specific digital labour platforms where the existence of an employment relationship between such a platform and a person performing platform work has been ascertained by a national competent authority, while ensuring that such controls and inspections are proportionate and non-discriminatory;
(d)
provide for appropriate training for national competent authorities and provide for the availability of technical expertise in the field of algorithmic management, to enable such authorities to carry out the tasks referred to under point (b).
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
