Voting on digitization, artificial intelligence and algorithmic management in the workplace

The European Parliament calls for clear rules for the use of the so-called of algorithmic management at workplaces in the EU. These are technologies and systems that use algorithms, often including artificial intelligence, to monitor and make decisions about various aspects of employment, such as recruitment, reassignment of tasks, performance evaluation or changes to working conditions. MEPs say that such systems can bring efficiency, but they also require rules that protect employees and their rights.

The main idea is that decisions influenced or supported by algorithms must always be ensured by human control. The Parliament demands that the final decisions on employment, termination of employment, change of salary or disciplinary measures should always be taken by a person, and not only by a machine. According to the MEPs, employees should have the right to ask for an explanation of such decisions and, in case of feeling that their rights have been violated, to ask for their review or system adjustment.

Another important element of the proposal is transparency. Employees should be informed about when and how algorithmic systems affect their working conditions, what kind of data is collected and processed about them, and how human control over automated decisions is ensured. Parliament also emphasizes that such systems must not endanger the safety, physical or mental health of workers.

A significant part of the proposal is also devoted to the protection of personal data. MEPs propose to ban the collection and processing of sensitive data about employees, such as their emotional or psychological state, private communications, geolocation data outside working hours or information about their membership in trade unions. This approach is intended to prevent uncontrolled surveillance and the misuse of technology for invasive surveillance of workers.