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In October 2020, ETUC adopted a resolution “on the protection of the rights of nonstandard workers and workers in platform companies including the self-employed)”. ETUC calls for a European initiative which provides for a presumption of employment relationship where the burden of proof should be borne by the platform companies, who should abide to their labour and fiscal obligations, including the sectorialagreements negotiated in collective bargaining by social partners. This report provides sound legal support to the feasibility of the ETUC demands. The experts have identified a legal avenue which seeks to improve the situation of workers in platform companies:to put an end to the use by platforms of bogus self-employment contracts by prescribing a presumption of employment relationship and the liability of platforms as companies. The authors have provided national and European example to introduce the mechanism for a strong presumption of employment status to a potential directive regulating platform work. At national level, the most outstanding case for an employment presumption of workers in platform companies can be the Spanish Royal-Decree Law 9/2021, which extends the application of the labour code to workers in delivery platforms. At European level, cases of employment presumption are analysed from the Directive 2009/52/EC on sanctions and measures againstemployers of illegally staying third-country nationals and the Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions.The authors complete the employment presumption with the need to shifting the burden of the proof on the platform. ETUC recalls that in the context of sex discrimination, the European Court of Justice has been introducing a reversal of the burden’ of proof through its case law and that this was incorporated later in the Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation. More recently, article 18 of the Transparent and Predictable Working ConditionsDirective also introduces a reversal of the burden of proof in the competence of labour law (unfair dismissals).The authors also tackle the need to qualify the legal status of the platform as companies, for which an avenue is proposed following the definition of a report of the European Parliament of 2020. To recognize platforms companies as employers when the presumption of employment relationship applies, ETUC proposes the definition of the employing entity as the party that impose labour law obligations and largely determines the terms and conditions.Whereas the clarification of the employment status of workers in platform companies would resolve many other current problems of workers in platform companies (like the de facto coverage by the social protection and the prevention and assessment of risks), specific guarantees appertaining to platform work should be granted to workers when it comes to working time, and information and consultation rights related to the algorithm management. These aspects are also tackled by the report. LV/ID/et Brussels, 24 June 2021 ETUC would like to remind that the views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position our organisation. The report concentrates largely on the extension of some labour law guarantees and social protection to genuine self-employed workers, thus examining how the ETUC resolution can provide for genuine self-employed workers operating through platform companies. ETUC defends the need for a level playing field between employees and the self-employed to prevent the employer from using the latter as cheap labour in opposition to the employee. This also implies taking action in relation to minimum wages and minimum tariffs, in such a way that these are not below the existing minimum wages or sectoral collective agreements, including the cost of social protection, taxes and other costs (such as holidays and professional costs) that the self-employed person will have to finance him/herself.In the accompanying document of the European Commission to the first stage consultation, it stated that “existing EU-level instruments only partially impact the challenges posed by platform work”, notably the employment status, underlining the need for EU action. At the moment of this publication, ETUC and the European employers’ organisations are consulted under Article 154 TFEU on possible action addressing the challenges related to working conditions in platform work. The avenues identified by the researchers are food for thought for the ETUC to prepare its answer for the second phase consultation. ETUC would like to thank the authors Judith Brockmann, Marie-Cécile Escande Varniol, Cécile Nicod and Daniel Pérez del Prado for their good work and their engagement to bring the organising efforts and legal victories of the European trade union movement to a European legislative framework.

À la fin de l’été 2015, deux textes, de nature différente, se sont succédés qui marquent un déplacement important en direction de la promotion de la négociation collective et du « dialogue social » en entreprise. Le 17 août, la loi dite Rebsamen se fixe pour objectif d’« améliorer l’efficacité et la qualité du dialogue social au sein de l’entreprise ». Dans les premiers jours de septembre, Jean-Denis Combrexelle, ancien directeur général du Travail, remet un rapport qui formule une longue liste de propositions destinées à dynamiser la négociation et à « donner de nouveaux champs à la négociation », et dont certaines propositions ont nourri le projet de loi Travail du printemps 2016, dont la première version a été contestée par l’ensemble des syndicats de salariésPour bien comprendre les enjeux de ces textes et bien saisir les perspectives qu’ils ouvrent, deux juristes spécialistes de ces sujets ont accepté de répondre à nos interrogations. Cet entretien brosse un panorama des évolutions importantes concernant les CHSCT, la délégation unique du personnel, la représentation des travailleurs dans les TPE, les discriminations syndicales ou encore l’égalité professionnelle. Il permet aussi de donner sens aux transformations profondes que connaît actuellement le système français de relations professionnelles. Sylvaine Laulom et Cécile Nicod y montrent notamment que, si les mérites de la négociation collective sont aujourd’hui proclamés, c’est surtout parce qu’elle est supposée produire certains résultats et servir la compétitivité des entreprises. Elles soulignent également que le débat sur la simplification du droit du travail masque les enjeux de ce qui est en cours : « une simplification de certaines des obligations des employeurs ou, en d’autres termes, un rééquilibrage des rapports entre employeurs et salariés, où la réalité des rapports des pouvoirs entre les deux parties est occultée ». In late summer 2015, two published texts marked a significant move to promote collective bargaining and “social dialogue” in companies. On 17 August, France’s so-called “Rebsamen” law was enacted, aimed at “improving the efficiency and quality of social dialogue in companies”. In early September, Jean-Denis Combrexelle, a former Director-General for Work, submitted a report featuring a long list of proposals for galvanising negotiations and “broadening [their] scope”. Some fed into the spring 2016 Work bill, who first draft met with opposition from all French employee unions.To understand everything at stake in these texts along with the perspectives they have opened up, two legal specialists in this field agreed to be interviewed by us. Their transcripts offer an overview of some major changes affecting company health and safety committees, the agreement to host single worker delegations, worker representation in micro-enterprises, anti-union discrimination and professional equality. It also looks at the major transformations that the French industrial relations system is going through at present, with Sylvaine Laulom and Cécile Nicod specifically highlighting the fact that widespread support for collective bargaining today can mainly be attributed to the assumption that this will produce certain outcomes enhancing business competitiveness. They also note that the debate about the simplification of labour law masks ongoing developments relating to “simpler obligations for employers, meaning a re-balancing of their power vis-a-vis employees, something hiding both sides’ real negotiating positions”. A fines del verano de 2015 se sucedieron dos textos de diferente naturaleza que marcaron un importante movimiento a favor de promover la negociación colectiva y el “diálogo social” en las empresas. El 17 de agosto, la llamada “ley Rébsamen” se fijó el objetivo de “mejorar la eficacia y la calidad del diálogo social en el seno de la empresa”. Durante los primeros días de septiembre, Jean-Denis Combrexelle, ex-director general del Trabajo, presentó un informe en el que formuló una larga lista de propuestas orientadas a dinamizar la negociación y a “dotarla de nuevos campos” ; algunas de esas propuestas alimentaron el proyecto de ley laboral de la primavera de 2016, cuya primera versión ha sido impugnada por todos los sindicatos de trabajadores.Con el fin de que se entienda bien la importancia de esos textos y para identificar claramente las perspectivas que abren, dos juristas especialistas en esos temas aceptaron contestar a nuestras preguntas. La entrevista esboza un panorama de los cambios importantes relacionados con los Comités de higiene, seguridad y condiciones de trabajo (CHSCT), la delegación única del personal, la representación de los trabajadores en las Muy pequeñas empresas, la discriminación sindical o la igualdad profesional. También permite darles sentido a las profundas transformaciones actuales del sistema francés de relaciones laborales. Sylvaine Laulom y Cécile Nicod muestran además que, si bien hoy se proclaman los méritos de la negociación colectiva, es sobre todo porque se supone que produce ciertos resultados y sirve a la competitividad de las empresas. También insisten en que el debate sobre la simplificación del derecho laboral oculta la importancia de lo que está en juego : “una simplificación de ciertas obligaciones de los patrones o, dicho de otra manera, un nuevo equilibrio en las relaciones entre patrones y trabajadores, donde la realidad de las relaciones entre los poderes de ambas partes queda oculta”.

International audience

International audience; Loi n° 2015-994 du 17 août 2015 relative au dialogue social et à l'emploi, JO 18 août