LLRN5 Poland, the fifth conference of the Labour Law Research Network, ran from 27-29 June 2021, hosted by the University of Warsaw. Naturally, the conference was online due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but the event was nonetheless a success. There were seven overarching conference themes, with more than 40 panels each day. Unsurprisingly, there was…

In a judgment published earlier today, the Supreme Court of Ireland has confirmed that some forms of collective agreements may be extended erga omnes across economic sectors, thereby helping to bring the benefits of collective bargaining to more people working in Ireland. This note gives a brief background to the colourful history of collective sectoral…

In 2015, the Irish Parliament overhauled the various statutory workplace dispute resolution systems which had been established over the previous 70 years and largely replaced them with a single Workplace Relations Commission (“WRC”). However, a recent judgment of the Supreme Court of Ireland raised a number of constitutional problems with this system, requiring the amendment…

In early April 2021, a draft EU Regulation on a European Approach to Artificial Intelligence was leaked to the press. The draft had been already attentively commented, among others, by Dr Michael Veale (UCL Faculty of Laws). The draft Regulation, however, raised many specific concerns about the use of AI at work to be addressed…

  Valerio De Stefano,* Ilda Durry,* Harry Stylogiannis,* Mathias Wouters* The debates on platform work have come a long way since the early publications in the first part of the last decade. For a long time, many commentators agreed with the words of Judge Vince Chhabria in the Californian case about the ride-hailing platform Lyft:…

The central theme of the 18th International Conference in Commemoration of Professor Marco Biagi, held online 16-19 March 2021 by the University of Modena, was “Protecting Autonomous Work”. I had the honour to chair one of the workshops, entitled “Innovation, Autonomy and (Pseudo) Managerial Legitimations: The Equivocal Paths of Operational Autonomy in EU Academia”. In…

Reclassification of ‘gig’ workers in California The State of California passed a law in force as of 1 January 2020 that classified ‘gig’ workers as employees of the platforms engaging their services ‘unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the…

In two previous blog posts (one here on this blog and an earlier one on EU Law Analysis) I pre-emptively commented on the possible legal construction of professional qualification recognition post-Brexit. Now that the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement has been published, it is appropriate to describe and critically reflect upon the actual legal construction…

Introduction In an earlier post on this blog (here), I commenced my analysis of the recognition of professional qualifications of migrants at work in the EU by describing and reflecting upon those provisions of EU migration and asylum law governing such recognition. In this blog post, I complete my analysis of qualification recognition by describing…

On 22 June 2020, the European Social Partners released their Autonomous Framework Agreement on Digitalisation.The Social Partners signing this agreement were: BusinessEurope, SMEunited, CEEP, ETUC and the liaison committee EUROCADRES/CEC, The Agreement is welcome (particularly in the midst of a pandemic) as an acknowledgement of the continuing movement towards a predominantly digital means of working…

Introduction In two blog posts (here, here) I have commented on the recognition of professional qualifications between the EU and UK post-Brexit. Yet to be described and reflected upon, however, is the more general scheme of legal regulation of the recognition of professional qualifications which applies to third-country nationals coming to the EU, be they…

Are exploitative contracts part of innovation? 2020 has not only been a year of pandemic. The year has also provided additions to the growing tome of ‘gig economy’ litigation; case law that has largely (though not exclusively) centred around Uber. Employment status has been the focal point of this discussion. Attention should be drawn to…

On 17 November 2017 the ‘European Pillar of Social Rights’ (“EPSR”) was officially proclaimed by the EU leaders at the occasion of the Social Summit held in Gothenburg, Sweden. Three years later, the European Union is set to deliver an action plan. In a Communication of 14 January 2020, the European Commission launched a communication[1] to…

On 30 June 2020, the Mexican ministry of labor Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS – Secretary of Labor and Social Protection) issued its report on Public Communication No. MEX 2016-1 under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). Better known as the NAFTA labor side agreement, the NAALC was in effect in…

Mural at the International Labour Organization (Geneva)

Covid-19: Long-term vs short-term Assessing the effect of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 on work and employment will be a long-term endeavour. While much of the emphasis has been on when and how economies may safely re-open, we draw attention to the undervalued workplace considerations therein. We have produced an early assessment of measures taken…

Introduction The field of digitalisation and privacy at work has received two major European Union initiatives over the last few days. First, on 24 June 2020, the European Commission issued its first report on the evaluation and review of the General Data Protection Regulation (the ‘GDPR’). It officially takes the form of a Communication from…

From an EU social and labour policy perspective, 2020 started off on the right foot. In mid-January, the Commission presented its Communication on “A Strong Social Europe for A Just Transition”. In the Communication, the Commission’s priorities (the European Green Deal and the digitalization agenda) appeared to be intertwined with the commitment to promote fairness…

As the COVID-19 pandemic engulfs the world, requiring an unprecedented and, as of yet, unforthcoming global response, the idea of Brexit, the sheer self-indulgence and chicanery of Brexit, has quickly become remote from the minds of policy makers and peoples alike. Nevertheless, with negotiations on ‘forging a new partnership’ between the EU and the UK…