New legislation in Portugal is set to grant gig economy workers certain minimum rights similar to those received by employees, rather than the current gig worker status as self-employed individuals. A draft bill has been approved by the government but still needs to get the final green light from the Portuguese parliament, which is likely given that it has wide support.
Portugal’s Labour Minister Ana Mendes Godinho said the bill assumes that a worker of the digital platform operator is staff with a formal contract whenever there is evidence of relationships between the platform, the worker who provides the service and the customers.
“Fighting precarious employment is one of our top priorities,” Godinho told a news conference.
She said that digital platforms will also have “the obligation to transparently inform the Work Conditions Authority, workers and their representatives, about the criteria of algorithms and artificial intelligence mechanisms used.”
Earlier this year the European Commission announced a consultation on the rights of gig economy workers in Europe, with a view to potentially introducing legislation to ensure these workers receive more protections than they do currently.
