Kollektive Arbeitsbeziehungen in der Gi

Platform work is a global phenomenon that has also brought significant changes to labor relations in certain employment sectors in Austria and Germany. But how is this reflected in the law?

In Austria, the discussion has primarily focused on whether collective agreements can also be concluded for worker-like individuals, while in Germany, discussions include how collective representation of platform workers might generally look and how platform workers can be included in social security. This is overshadowed by the question of whether there is a fundamental right to collective bargaining for worker-like individuals.

These discussions are, of course, taking place in light of current EU legal regulations and proposed regulations, foremost the directive proposal on working conditions for platform workers from December 2021, as well as the Commission's guidelines on collective agreements for solo self-employed individuals from September 2022.

This book brings together the results of the research project 'COGENS' (VS/2019/0084) funded by the EU Commission and comprehensively addresses the question of to what extent collective agreements (in a broader sense) can provide a certain level of social protection for those platform workers who cannot be classified as employees in the sense that the entire body of labor law applies. The contributions discuss, among other things, who acts as negotiating partners in the member states - established actors, such as existing trade unions, or new movements. It also examines the content of existing agreements at the collective level, as well as the legal limits of possible future regulations. Relevant rulings from national supreme courts are also highlighted. This is embedded in the analysis and evaluation of the EU legal framework.