Platform Work Directive: implications for couriers and last-mile platforms

Short answer: The Platform Work Directive (EU) 2024/2831 aims to tackle bogus self-employment in platform work and to regulate platforms' use of algorithms. It introduces a legal presumption of employment and sets requirements for automated decision-making. The directive is a minimum framework; the concrete rules will follow from national transposition law, which must be in place by 2 December 2026.

What the directive covers

The directive was published in the Official Journal on 11 December 2024 and entered into force in December 2024 (Directive (EU) 2024/2831). It has two main objectives. First, the correct determination of the employment status of people who work through a digital platform, so that those who in fact work as employees also receive the corresponding protection. Second, the regulation of so-called "algorithmic management": the automated allocation, monitoring and assessment of work.

As a directive it does not apply directly in the way a regulation does. Member States must transpose its provisions into national law, with a deadline of 2 December 2026 (transposition article). The directive sets minimum standards; Member States may maintain or introduce rules more favourable to workers. The practical consequences for a courier or a last-mile platform therefore depend on the national law through which the country concerned implements the directive.

The presumption of employment

The core mechanism is a legal presumption that a contractual relationship between a platform and a person working through that platform is an employment relationship where there are indications of control and direction. This presumption shifts the burden of proof: it is the platform, not the worker, that must show there is no employment relationship.

The directive does not impose one single uniform formulation of the presumption binding on all Member States in the same way; national transposition determines how it is applied in practice, in line with national law and collective agreements and taking account of the case law of the Court of Justice. For last-mile platforms this means that elements of direction — fixed rates, rules of conduct, supervision of performance, restrictions on refusing or subcontracting trips — may be relevant when assessing status. The correct classification ultimately remains a factual assessment.

Algorithmic management and human oversight

The directive sets limits on automated monitoring and decision-making systems. Platforms may not process certain personal data, such as data on emotional or psychological state, private conversations, or data used to infer a person's employment status. Transparency obligations apply regarding which systems are used and how they affect work.

Important decisions — such as restricting, suspending or terminating an account or contract — may not be taken solely on the basis of automated systems; the directive requires human oversight and the possibility to have a decision reviewed. These rules apply in principle to all platform workers, whether classified as employees or as self-employed. The directive supplements existing EU rules, including the General Data Protection Regulation. The exact scope and enforcement will be set out in national transposition law.

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