Barcelona, Spain – April 09, 2022: A bunch of delivery boxes placed on the ground near bikes waiting for delivery to customers, Barcelona, Spain Wirestock

Introduction: the need for a new employment presumption The Portuguese Labour Code was recently amended through Act 13/2023, of 3 April (known as the “Decent Work Agenda”), which entered into force on 1 May 2023. This reform was driven by several concerns, namely the precarious situation of platform workers. And, precisely, one of its innovative…

Privacy@Work

Considering “privacy@work” In their article of 1890, Warren and Brandeis wrote of a “right to be let alone”. Nowadays, the right to privacy has become a fundamental right, recognised in many international human rights instruments (including Article 12 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and…

Introduction Romanian labour law has developed very dynamically in recent years. Its development curve could be described in key words which, at first somewhat belatedly, are nowadays becoming more and more dominant in line with international trends. One of these key words was flexicurity, which was the main theme of the most significant amendment to…

The increasing and pervasive use of digital technology in the workplace is accompanied by a growing perception that the current regulatory and definitional frameworks used by legal systems to allocate obligations and protections in labour relations are becoming obsolete and inadequate. The rarefaction of labour law notions This inadequacy is evident in the diminishing significance…

1) Introduction On December 12, 2022, at first reading, the European Parliament adopted 186 amendments to the Proposal for a directive on improving working conditions in platform work presented by the European Commission on December 9, 2021[1].The proposed directive is part of a package of measures promoted at European level in order to guarantee better…

On 16-17 March 2023, the Twentieth International Conference in Commemoration of Professor Marco Biagi took place in Modena, Italy, at the Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. The title of this conference was: The Green Transition and the Quality of Work: Linkages, Implications, and Perspectives. From health and safety to wellbeing I…

KU Leuven, The University Library and the Library ©David Mangan

To what extent, if any, will employers permit hybrid working? Hybrid working involves a split of time for workers performing their duties at the employer’s business location and their own homes (though it is possible to work from another location). This is the concept of remote working discussed here. Remote work may also be discussed…

Are public sector workers called upon to subsidise public sector services? As attention turns away from the Covid-19 pandemic and towards the economic challenges it created, a familiar discussion point arises: how do governments now reduce and/or restrain public spending? Drawing from the immediate past The reduction/restraint approach was adopted in response to the Great…

David and Goliath: workers’ data rights vs a vast market of surveillance An employer today can learn about interactions among employees or with customers via sensors and a vast variety of softwares. Is the tone of voice friendly enough with customers? How much time is spent on emailing or away from the assigned desk? Scores,…

The proposed Directive on improving working conditions in platform work is gradually proceeding through the EU’s legislative institutions, with a key vote in the EP scheduled for 25 October. Beyond introducing protections in the case of algorithmic management, the most crucial innovation envisaged by the Directive is the stipulation of a conditional legal presumption of…