Human oversight of critical employment decisions and transparency over how algorithms work are the key issues addressed by the legal framework that Labour Minister Niki Kerameus is expected to present today at a cabinet meeting.
The new draft law on artificial intelligence seeks to regulate the use of AI and automated systems in the labour market, while also incorporating the European directive on workers on digital platforms.
At its heart is a new world of work in which the employer is no longer always the one issuing instructions directly, as a significant part of day-to-day work is carried out through digital systems.
The move is particularly significant for businesses that use digital tools to manage their staff, since the rules are not confined to delivery workers and people working for apps.
The rules are gradually reaching the entire labour market, from selection and recruitment to performance assessment, task allocation, productivity monitoring and the shaping of employment relations.
In practice, the new framework seeks to address an issue taking on ever greater economic and social importance: how far can a business entrust an automated system with managing its workforce, and who is responsible when an algorithmic decision affects a worker’s income, job or career prospects?
The government aims to bring together two distinct but complementary European regulatory instruments. On the one hand, the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act, 2024/1689), which classifies certain AI applications in employment as high-risk.
On the other, Directive 2024/2831 on improving working conditions in platform work, which extends safeguards to automated management systems, even when they are not artificial intelligence systems in the strict legal sense.
The distinction is significant. A business may not use an advanced artificial intelligence model, but may rely on a conventional algorithm to decide which worker gets an order, who works a particular shift, who receives a lower score or who is excluded from an activity.
The European directive does not leave these systems outside its regulatory scope when they are used by digital platforms. Decisions may still be made with the help of an algorithm, but they will no longer be able to remain opaque, unchecked and impossible for a worker to challenge.
The most significant change concerns decisions that can fundamentally alter a worker’s position. The European directive explicitly provides that decisions to restrict, suspend or terminate a contractual relationship or a digital platform worker’s account must be taken by a human being.
This provision is particularly important for workers on delivery, transport and other digital service apps, since until now their activity may have been assessed on the basis of a combination of factors, such as delivery times, acceptance or rejection of assignments, customer ratings and compliance with platform rules.
Workers will also have the right to request an explanation of decisions made or supported by automated systems. It is important to note, however, that the European directive does not establish a general ban across all businesses on dismissals following the use of artificial intelligence.
The explicit requirement that these decisions be made by a human applies to digital platforms. For high-risk systems in the broader field of employment, the requirements for human oversight apply.
The European directive also imposes specific restrictions on digital platforms’ ability to collect and process information about workers through automated monitoring and decision-making systems.
A significant change is also envisaged in the role of workers’ representatives. Directive 2024/2831 requires workers’ representatives to be informed and consulted before automated systems that affect work are introduced or materially changed.
It also provides for their involvement in assessing the impact of these systems, while human oversight must be exercised by people with adequate training, authority and a genuine ability to override automated decisions.
Who is really the employer?
A second major section of the bill to be presented by Labour Minister Niki Kerameus concerns the employment status of workers on digital platforms. Under Directive 2024/2831, signing a contract for services will not, by itself, rule out recognition of an employment relationship if the way the arrangement operates points to a different reality.
The platform will have to be able to substantiate how the relationship is classified, and workers must have an effective means of challenging that classification.
This does not mean that self-employment is being abolished or that every arrangement with a digital platform automatically becomes an employment contract. Self-employment remains permitted where it reflects the actual nature of the arrangement. The bill will also make clear that the allocation of contracts among different companies will not be allowed to create uncertainty over which one has the actual responsibilities of an employer.