Sweden: Proposed Swedish Act on Platform Work to Implement EU Directive
Author: Karolina Sundqvist
A Swedish government inquiry proposes a new Act on Platform Work to implement Directive (EU) 2024/2831. The Act introduces a presumption of employment for persons performing platform work, detailed rules on algorithmic management and data protection, and information, communication and enforcement mechanisms. The structure of the Act mirrors the directive and is intended to be interpreted in conformity with it.
Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on improving working conditions in platform work aims to clarify employment status, regulate algorithmic management and strengthen data protection and transparency in platform work across the EU. It applies to digital labour platforms that organise platform work carried out in the Union, and must be implemented by 2 December 2026.
To implement the directive, a Swedish government inquiry proposes a new, stand‑alone Act on Platform Work, organised in eight chapters broadly reflecting the directive’s structure. A key feature is a legal presumption that a person performing platform work is an employee where, in substance, the platform organises the work and exercises direction and control over how it is carried out. Workers can invoke this presumption in disputes about their status, and it shifts the burden of proof to the platform to show that no employment relationship exists. For supervisory purposes, the Swedish Work Environment Authority will be required to treat the platform as the employer wherever the factual circumstances indicate that the work is carried out under its direction and control, and to enforce work environment obligations primarily against the platform. The presumption also expressly covers work performed via intermediaries, ensuring that indirect set‑ups do not weaken workers’ protection.
The proposal also contains detailed rules on algorithmic management, combining stricter data protection obligations with enhanced participation rights for platform workers and their representatives. Platforms are prohibited from processing certain particularly intrusive categories of personal data, must carry out and share data protection impact assessments, have to inform workers and trade unions about the automated monitoring and decision‑making systems they use, and must ensure human involvement, explanations and the possibility of review when significant decisions are taken or supported by such systems.
In addition, platform companies will be subject to specific duties to provide structured information to authorities and relevant trade unions and to maintain communication channels that allow platform workers, and their unions, to communicate privately and organise. The act further sets up a supervision and sanctions regime with defined roles for the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection and the Work Environment Authority and the possibility of both economic and general damages for breaches, alongside rules on appeals, procedures and limitation periods.
Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-house Counsel:
Platform companies to review classification of platform workers, how algorithmic tools are used to allocate and monitor work and how the organisation can meet future requirements on transparency, worker involvement and cooperation with authorities and trade unions under the proposed Act on Platform Work.
