Turin: The Quality Jobs Act is the Commission’s next big workplace proposal, and the legislation is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. Its aim is to modernise EU workplace rules for a labour market changed by algorithms, climate heat and long subcontracting chains.

The Commission presented the Quality Jobs Roadmap on 4 December 2025, and a second-phase consultation of social partners ran until 28 September 2026. With that step closed, officials can now draft the text. Industry hubs such as Turin, where car suppliers and engineering firms rely on layers of subcontractors, are exactly the places that will feel the proposed rules.

The roadmap names five priority areas. The first covers algorithmic management and artificial intelligence at work, including more transparent and human-centred automated decisions and protection from excessive monitoring. The second covers health and safety, with rules for non-office work and risks such as extreme heat, psychosocial hazards and sexual harassment.

The third area focuses on workers’ rights in subcontracting chains, including transparency, liability and enforcement. The fourth deals with fair digital and green transitions, with attention to skills and social dialogue. The fifth turns to enforcement, social partners, labour inspections and sanctions, which determine whether any new rule changes daily practice.

Related revisions are already under way. The Workplace Directive and the Display Screen Equipment Directive are being revised as part of the health and safety pillar. A separate two-stage consultation of social partners on the right to disconnect and telework ended in October 2025, and its outcome is expected to feed into the Quality Jobs Act.

Important questions remain open. It is not clear whether the Commission will propose new measures in all five areas at once, and it has not confirmed whether the Quality Jobs Act will be a single directive or a set of separate instruments. Employers will push for a lean text, while trade unions will push for binding limits on algorithmic management.

The timing also matters for the wider agenda. The Pay Transparency Directive deadline has just passed with most states late, and governments may be reluctant to take on another large employment file. Yet the Commission has framed the Quality Jobs Act as a core part of its social agenda, and Parliament is likely to seek a strong role.

Workers and firms should watch the final quarter of 2026 closely. If the Commission delivers a single ambitious text, the Quality Jobs Act could reshape how automated tools, heat risks and subcontractors are handled across the single market.