March the 9th, 2021 - About 40,000 Croatian citizens made a living from working on online platforms back in 2019, and such work should finally be regulated, Vecernji list writes on Monday. Could this result in better Croatian working conditions for thousands of people?
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the European Commission (EC) launched the first phase of consultations with European social partners back during the middle of last week on how to improve the working conditions of people working through digital work platforms.
The start of that consultation coincided with a historic ruling in Milan in which Italian courts ordered four large food delivery companies to employ more than 60,000 delivery workers and pay more than 700 million euros in fines for failing to provide them with adequate working conditions.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in other European countries, including Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and there are more and more judgments being handed out in which courts side with the workers, who to date have mostly been drivers and delivery people. France was the first in the EU to legally oblige companies that built their business empires through digital platforms to pay their workers who work through these platforms insurance in the event of an accident at work, but even in France their employment status is not fully defined.
Political action was launched from the very top of the EU to establish clearer rules for this proverbial game. The public consultation on the topic will last at least six weeks, during which employers' associations and trade unions will present their views "on the need and direction of possible EU action to improve working conditions through [online] platforms".
Many of these platforms are also available in Croatia and thousands of suppliers are engaged through them, and the EU-level move could lead to far better and more secure Croatian working conditions for those making a living in this way.
The Croatian Ministry of Labour also announced that the forthcoming amendment to the Labour Law will also apply to those who conduct their work through online platforms, and pointed out that Croatia will also look for a way to provide certain protection to people who work in this way, reports Vecernji list.
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