Digitial platform work in Italy: how the new EU Directive will change things

On April 24th 2024, the European Parliament voted on a new Directive for Digital Platform Work after an agreement was finally reached between the European Parliament and the European Council on the final text of the proposal originally presented in February 2024. This new approved text will then have to face some further hurdles and once approved the new text will then be published in the Official Journal of the European Union – and hence the new Directive of Platform Work will become EU Law. When this happens, each European Union Member State will then have 2 years to integrate this new EU law into their national laws.  So where does Italy stand in this matter? This is an especially important question as we consider that the main purpose of this new EU Directive is the improvement of working conditions for people engaged to provide a service through digital platforms (such as, but not only, Uber, Deliveroo, and many others).

In order to achieve this objective – which also has the ulterior aim of guaranteeing that people who are hired through digital platforms are provided with more adequate forms of protection in the presence of automated decision-making and monitoring systems - the new EU Directive highlights new fundamental principles to be considered.  This is especially important in light of the debates on this subject which have been heard in the Italian labor courts in recent years.