Νομοσχέδια για εναρμόνιση με την ΟΔΗΓΙΑ (ΕΕ) 2024/2831 ΤΟΥ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΟΫ ΚΟΙΝΟΒΟΥΛΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΙΟΥ της 23ης Οκτωβρίου 2024 για τη βελτίωση των συνθηκών εργασίας των εργαζομένων σε πλατφόρμες

Seldia, the European Direct Selling Association, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the consultation on the Cypriot transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on improving working conditions in platform work.

Suggestions:

1. Definition of a digital labour platform

Article number: Article 3 (definition of “digital work platform”) of the Regulation of Working Conditions of Platform Workers Law and Article 2 of the Social Insurance (Amendment) Law.

Suggestion: Seldia welcomes the fact that both the proposed Regulation of Working Conditions of Platform Workers Law and the Social Insurance (Amendment) Law transpose the four cumulative criteria established in Article 2 of the Directive. However, an important clarification contained in Recital 20 of the Directive, which further explains the criterion relating to the organisation of work, has not been reflected in the Cypriot draft legislation. Recital 20 clarifies that the organisation of work should constitute a necessary and essential component of the service “and not merely a minor and purely ancillary component”.

Justification: Seldia believes that including this clarification in the relevant definition in both the Regulation of Working Conditions of Platform Workers Law and the Social Insurance (Amendment) Law would provide greater legal certainty, as this element is particularly useful in clarifying when the organisation of work is sufficiently central to the service for it to fall within the definition of a digital labour platform.

The relevant criterion could therefore read: “It involves, as a necessary and essential element, rather than merely a minor and purely ancillary component, the organisation of work performed by individuals in return for payment, irrespective of whether that work is performed online or in a certain location”.

A similar approach has already been taken in the Polish draft transposition act, which expressly provides that the organisation of work must constitute an “essential and significant, rather than merely secondary or ancillary element of the service”.

2. Determination of employment status

Article number: Article 4 (b) of the Regulation of Working Conditions of Platform Workers Law.

Suggestion: Seldia welcomes the fact that the Cypriot drafts do not introduce a predefined list of platform-specific criteria for triggering the legal presumption and expressly refer to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). This avoids unnecessary complexity and provides greater legal certainty. To further strengthen this approach, Seldia recommends expressly clarifying that the assessment of the facts should be an overall assessment.

Justification: One of the principles reflected in the case law of the CJEU is the need to carry out an overall assessment of the factual circumstances when determining employment status. Individual elements should therefore not be considered in isolation, but together with all the relevant circumstances of the relationship. Seldia accordingly recommends making this principle explicit in Article 4(b) of the proposed Regulation of Working Conditions for Platform Workers Law. This could read as follows: “To all persons performing platform work in the European Union who are working or who, based on an overall assessment of the facts, are deemed to be working under an employment contract or employment relationship, taking into account the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), and establishes the minimum rights applicable to such persons”.