Industry Code of Conduct on Platform Work

Preamble

We, leading technology platforms operating in the EU,
Reaffirming the EU’s values, principles and traditions of social dialogue that
1. built the European social model and social market economy and
2. fostered an ability to both innovate and make innovation work for all,

Confident in the potential of technology to simultaneously
1. generate new and needed business models and economic sectors,
2. offer flexible, on-demand, low-barrier income to all needing it,
3. bring unprecedented potential for social, economic and environmental accountability,

Agree to the following Code of Conduct and its provisions in order to contribute to the development of a European form of platform work.

  1. Accountability
    By signing this Code of Conduct, the Signatories affirm a leading responsibility to create a platform ecosystem that works for everyone. For this reason each signatory’s fulfillment of the below commitments will be externally audited annually by a third party, based on regular progress reports, which will be made public.
  1. Representation of platform workers
    The signatories affirm the need for mechanisms of joint representation by platform workers and will facilitate and recognize such mechanisms in order to jointly develop and maintain fair working conditions.
  1. Earnings
    The Signatories will always ensure fair and transparent average earnings for platform workers – independent of their legal status.
    “Fair” will take into account at least

(a) where applicable, comparison to legislated minimum wages,
(b) specific market standards, and
(c) the variety of work formats, including non-exclusive ones.
Each signatory undertakes to explain how “Fair” earning levels are determined.

  1. Legal status of the platform workers

The Signatories will adapt to the evolving regulatory landscape on platform work in a way that takes into account the expressed will of the workers themselves.

  1. Security and safety
    The Signatories are committed to take and maintain additional safety measures that will benefit and protect platform workers. They will be taken whenever they do not create uncertainty about the legal status of the workers.
    The measures will include: making available safety equipment, health & safety trainings and protocols as well as channels for security concerns.
  1. Explainability of algorithms & decision-making transparency
    With the end goal of ensuring meaningful scrutiny and accountability, the signatories will develop and maintain the explainability of their algorithms and the transparency of their decision-making governance impacting platform workers.
    A regular Transparency Report shall be published and maintained twice a year addressing incoming questions and covering topics to include, at least:
  • decisions and automated processes that depend on AI and/or algorithms
  • contractual obligations related to the use of platforms and consequences of misuse, including platform access terms and conditions
  • risk of bias in algorithms, data sets, and more.
  1. Insurances
    We Signatories will ensure that all platform workers who wish so are covered by 3rd party liability insurance.
    The Signatories also see the need for platform workers to benefit from additional insurance coverage (such as accident, savings, and gear insurance), that depends on their individual situation (such as working hours, type of vehicle, nr. of platforms, share of income from independent work, coverage through social systems). The Signatories commit to promote and support the development of appropriate insurance regulatory frameworks and mechanisms.
  1. Taxation
    The Signatories commit to contribute their fair share of taxes and ensure that tax compliance follows business purposes and is not artificially driven.
    The Signatories commit to work closely with tax authorities for the successful and early implementation of the DAC7 framework to ensure greater tax transparency.
    The Signatories are committed to support the development of an agreement at the level of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS (Base erosion and profit shifting) on the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy as well as the implementation thereof at the level of the EU.
  1. Partnering with local economies and communities
    The Signatories commit to enable exclusively local transactions and aim to ensure that locally established SMEs constitute the majority of merchant partners. They will promote local economies by empowering local merchants with the ability to reach their local customer base with platform technology services and on-demand deliveries.
  1. A green and sustainable future
    The signatories commit to work together to define common terms for the industry on reducing carbon emissions and addressing food packaging waste as a first step before setting tangible targets within two years that will contribute towards the goals of the Paris Agreement.
  1. Data
    The Signatories are committed to best practice implementation of the GDPR processing principles, including the principles of lawfulness, purpose limitation, data minimisation, data accuracy, storage limitation as well as integrity and confidentiality.
    The Signatories reject the use of intrusive surveillance methods such as secret cross-device tracking, offline tracking, linking data from online and offline sources.
    Finally, the Signatories welcome and encourage regulatory supervision to secure GDPR compliance of all operators active on the EU markets.
  1. The Code of Conduct as the start of a continuous dialogue
    The Signatories  see this Code of Conduct as a first step in a continuous contribution to positive societal change. To that end, they commit to review and evaluate it regularly in response to technological, regulatory and social developments.