Let’s preserve the status of the real self-employed!

Brussels, 6 December 2022 – Major industry representatives call for a balanced and proportionate approach on the Platform Workers Directive. An automatic reclassification of self-employed into employees must be avoided!

HOTREC and CEEMET, representing the hospitality, metal, engineering and technology-based industries call on both the European Parliament and the Council to reach balanced compromises on the proposal for a Platform Workers Directive.

The social partners’ priorities are the following:

• • Scope: restrict the scope to digital labour platforms and clearly leave other businesses out of the scope.
  • Legal presumption: establish robust EU criteria to trigger the legal presumption, that is easily applicable by the companies at national level. Avoid automatic reclassification and preserve the willingness of the truly self-employed to keep their status.
  • Rebuttal procedure: must be realistic and done according with national legislation. A suspensive effect of the legal presumption until the end of the rebuttal is essential to avoid automatic reclassification of self-employed into employees.

We count on the co-legislator’s support in making this Directive a practical legal instrument for companies to be able to comply with at national level!