Platform work: protecting the self-employed status

On 18 September 2023, the European Parliament and the Council discussed the proposal for a Directive on “Improving Working Conditions in Platform Work.”

HOTREC believes that bogus self-employed individuals should be treated as employees. However, safeguarding the authentic self-employed status is of utmost importance. Failing to do so could lead to a decline in platform workers, as rigidity prevails. This, in turn, could exacerbate the skills and labour shortages already faced by the hospitality sector.

In our position paper, as well as in collaboration with other employer associations, we stress the necessity of establishing robust EU criteria that trigger a transition from self-employed to employee status, all while avoiding automatic reclassification.

We trust the EU institutions to achieve a balanced outcome in this matter.