Your side hustle could be about to change. A new directive announced by the European Commission in Brussels this week aims to improve conditions for millions of people working through digital platforms across the European Union.
The proposal, revealed in a report on September 16, 2025, seeks to clarify the employment status of gig economy workers for services like ride-hailing, food delivery, and online freelance tasks. Many of these workers are currently classified as self-employed contractors, leaving them without basic labour rights.
What the directive changes
The core of the new rule is a set of criteria to determine if a digital platform is acting as an employer. If a platform controls pay, performance, or working hours, the people working for it could be legally presumed to be employees. This reclassification would grant them significant new protections.
According to the Commission’s proposal, these new rights would include:
- Guaranteed national or sector-specific minimum wages.
- The right to paid holidays and sick leave.
- Contributions to unemployment, health, and pension schemes.
- Stronger protection against unfair dismissal.
While workers’ unions have praised the move as a major step towards fairness, some digital platforms have raised concerns about increased operational costs and a potential loss of flexibility for workers. The directive must now be negotiated and approved by the European Parliament and member states before it becomes law, a process that is expected to take up to two years.
