Berlin: The couriers who weave through German cities on electric bikes may soon find their legal status transformed. Germany has begun turning the European Union’s platform work directive into national law, and the change could reclassify hundreds of thousands of gig workers.

The directive, in force since late 2024, gives member states until 2 December to write its provisions into their own statutes. Its core idea is simple. When a company controls how, when and where someone works, the law should presume that person is an employee, not a contractor.

That presumption reverses the usual burden. Instead of a rider proving in court that a platform employs them, the platform must show it does not. Workers who win reclassification gain the minimum wage, paid leave, sick pay and pension contributions that contractors go without.

Germany’s labour ministry has joined the Commission’s expert group and a run of workshops meant to keep national rules broadly aligned. Officials want to avoid a patchwork that would let platforms shop for the friendliest member state, a risk that has shadowed the file from the start.

The stakes reach well beyond food delivery. Ride-hailing drivers, freelance cleaners booked through apps and warehouse workers hired by the shift all fall within the directive’s reach. Estimates put the number of platform workers across the Union in the tens of millions.

Platforms warn that reclassification will raise costs and cut the flexibility that many riders say they value. Some have threatened to shrink their fleets or raise prices. Unions answer that flexibility and employment rights can coexist, and that the current model simply shifts risk onto the least protected.

The directive also curbs the algorithms that manage platform work. Companies must tell staff how automated systems make decisions about pay, tasks and dismissal, and a human must review the most serious calls rather than leaving them to code.

Cross-border enforcement adds another layer. A rider working for a platform headquartered in one member state but operating in another must know which country’s courts and rules apply. The directive pushes national authorities to cooperate and share data, an area where earlier labour laws often faltered.

The financial stakes are large. Reclassifying millions of workers would swell social security contributions and tax receipts, but it could also thin the ranks of the self-employed who value setting their own hours. Governments must weigh fuller protection against the flexibility that first drew many people to the work.

The European trade union institute has tracked the directive’s progress across member states, and the pace varies widely. Germany’s choices will carry weight, because where Berlin lands often signals where the rest of the Union will follow.