Spanish
The European Commission (EC) is considering regulating the use of algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace in its future Quality Employment Law, which it will present in 2026.
The European Commission opened on Thursday the consultation with unions and employers on a regulation that could also legislate on subcontractors in order to avoid abuses, protect health in the face of the rise of teleworking or to improve compliance with the rules that already exist in order to avoid "persistent problems" such as undeclared work.
The objective, explained EC Vice-President Roxana Minzatu, is threefold: to create and maintain jobs in Europe, to modernize work, and to ensure the protection of workers.
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In this regard, he advanced that Brussels is studying regulating the use of algorithms and AI in work management, in particular aspects such as transparency or "ethical limits" and "proportionality" when these are used, for example, to automatically monitor workers. Also regarding the level of human involvement in its use or its impact on collective bargaining, areas not currently covered by the regulations already in place by the European Union (EU) on the matter, such as the AI Act. "On the one hand, we want to promote the adoption of artificial intelligence in Europe, which contributes to productivity and agility, but on the other hand, we have to create a reliable environment for its adoption, in which workers and companies from all sectors have confidence," said Minzatu. "This requires us to consider having minimal protection for workers," added the commissioner. Precisely, the Eurochamber urged the EC last month to regulate the use of algorithms and AI at work and demanded, in particular, that their decisions always be supervised by humans and that there be transparency measures so that workers know how this technology influences areas such as task distribution or remuneration. They also requested that the privacy of employees be protected, prohibiting access to data on their psychological state and on their activities and geolocation outside of work, as well as to their private communications and data linked to collective bargaining. On the other hand, the Community Executive also wants to fight against labor exploitation and "social dumping", particularly in those cases where companies use "long chains of subcontractors" or move their workers abroad, phenomena that occur particularly in the construction and transportation sectors. "We will study how to better enforce the rules, more transparency and accountability systems for employers, because subcontractors should not weaken or eliminate European social standards," the commissioner stressed. Brussels is also considering updating the occupational health rules in a context where the rate of Europeans who telework has doubled since 2019, reaching 20.3% in 2025, which "has increased psychosocial and ergonomic risks". A 29% of workers in Europe report feeling stress, anxiety or depression caused or worsened by their work, above the 27% recorded in 2022, the Commission recalled. In this sense, the new consultation will complement the one the Community Executive carried out between July and October on the right to disconnect and fair conditions for teleworking, also with a view to legislating on this aspect.
