Who’s Really Managing Platform Workers? What the New EU Directive Means for Romania

The development of digital labour platforms has changed not just where people work, but how work is organised and controlled. From ride-hailing to food delivery, platforms increasingly rely on algorithms to assign tasks, monitor performance and even influence access to future work. 

This shift is at the core of Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on improving working conditions in platform work, adopted on 23 October 2024 and published in the Official Journal on 11 November 2024. The Directive is the EU’s response to a simple but important question: when decisions about work are made by systems, how do we ensure fairness, transparency and accountability? 

What does the Directive actually cover? 

The Directive applies specifically to digital labour platforms – companies that organise work through online platforms and apps. 

Well-known examples include: 

• ride-hailing platforms like Uber orBolt;
• food delivery platforms,such asGlovo and Wolt; 
• other app-based services where tasks are assigned and managed digitally.

These platforms do more than connect clients and service providers. In practice, they often structure the entire working relationship through automated systems. 

The Directive starts from the idea that digitalisation has supported the growth of digital labour platforms but has also created risks for employment and working conditions. According to the text, algorithm-based technologies may affect transparency, fairness, health and safety, and the protection of personal data and privacy. For this reason, the European legislator does not treat these systems as purely technical tools, but as instruments capable of influencing the position of persons performing platform work. 

From human managers to algorithmic management 

A key concept introduced by the Directive is what is often referred to as algorithmic management – the use of automated systems to organise and supervise work. 

In platform work, these systems can: 

• allocatetasks ororders; 
• monitor performance (ratings, acceptance rates, delivery times);
• influence access to futurework;
• support or even trigger decisions affecting working conditions.

The legal importance of this development lies in the fact that managerial control is no longer exercised only through direct human supervision but may also operate through digital systems that process data and shape working conditions in practice. This is a cautious interpretation based on the Directive’s focus on automated monitoring and decision-making in the organisation of platform work. 

Why does this matter? 

A key contribution of Directive (EU) 2024/2831 is that it recognises the impact of these systems and provides minimum protections for persons performing platform work. The Directive requires information about the use and functioning of automated systems affecting working conditions and seeks to ensure safeguards connected to oversight and review. In this way, it promotes greater transparency and limits the risk that significant decisions affecting workers are taken in an opaque manner.  

A targeted regulation, not a general one 

It is important to keep the scope of the Directive in perspective. Directive (EU) 2024/2831 applies specifically to platform work, not to all employment relationships.  Therefore, any broader conclusions about labour law as a whole should be presented carefully. What can safely be said is that the Directive reflects a wider European concern with the legal consequences of automated systems in the field of work. That broader concern can also be seen in Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the AI Act, which expressly refers to AI systems used in employment, worker management and access to self-employment as sensitive uses subject to stricter regulation. 

Why this matters for Romania 

Although the Directive has not yet been transposed into the Romanian law, this is only a matter of time. Member States, including Romania, must implement it by 2 December 2026.  

More importantly, the realities it addresses are already present. Platforms such as Uber, Bolt, Glovo or Wolt are widely used in Romania, and many people already work under conditions shaped by apps and algorithms. 

For this reason, the Directive should not be seen as a distant regulatory development, but as a formalisation of practices that already exist on the local market.  

A step towards more transparency 

Directive (EU) 2024/2831 represents an important step in the legal regulation of algorithmic management in platform work. It does not prohibit the use of automated systems, but it makes clear that their operation must be accompanied by transparency and safeguards for the persons affected by them. In this sense, the Directive shows that technological innovation in the labour market must remain compatible with the protection of workers and with the basic requirements of fairness and accountability.