As algorithms take on decisions once made by managers, the European Commission is preparing new rules to help workers challenge automated assessments, rewards and dismissals. The planned Quality Jobs would clarify workers’ rights when AI systems make decisions that affect their careers.
Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu said she hoped the Commission would adopt its proposal on 3 December. Its final shape remains under discussion, but she envisages a single legal text with chapters covering issues including algorithmic management, subcontracting and workplace health risks.
Speaking after the Employment and Social Policy Council in Luxembourg, Ms Mînzatu described a practical problem behind the negotiations: employees generally know how to contest a human manager’s decision. When an algorithm makes it, the explanation and route to appeal can be harder to identify.
Hiring, firing and explaining the decision
The Commission is examining how human oversight, transparency and protection against discrimination should work when AI systems manage employees. Ms Mînzatu listed decisions on recruitment, dismissal, performance assessments, rewards and sanctions, alongside data collection and the intensity of work. These systems can affect both someone’s career and the pressure they experience during a shift.
“Workers need to know how they can appeal that decision taken by an algorithm if they don’t agree with it,” she said, recounting concerns raised by ministers. The question is how to make those protections work in practice without duplicating existing European rules. “Nobody wants to repeat what is already in the AI Act or GDPR. That is absolutely out of the question.”
Workers need to know how they can appeal that decision taken by an algorithm if they don’t agree with it.
— Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness
The proposal would also address gaps in workplace health and safety, including weather-related and psychosocial risks. Ms Mînzatu emphasised assessing those risks and planning a response, rather than rewriting the existing framework. “It won’t be an encyclopedia,” she said. She declined to confirm the final legal form or detailed measures before the Commission completes its internal scrutiny.
Irish Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary said ministers had discussed job security, fair working conditions, skills and career progression. The meeting provided governments’ input into the forthcoming proposal; it did not approve new employment rights. Ms Mînzatu said the Commission was considering a targeted approach, including protections in sectors such as construction, agriculture, transport and cleaning, where precarious conditions coexist with labour shortages.
Help before people lose their homes
At the same Council meeting, ministers did reach an agreement on a separate measure: the EU’s first recommendation dedicated to fighting housing exclusion, including homelessness. It calls for earlier intervention when people risk losing their homes, simpler access to support and a greater supply of social and affordable housing. Proposed measures include emergency rent assistance, debt counselling, mediation and safeguards against forced eviction. The recommendation is not legally binding.
“Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to call home,” Irish Housing Minister James Browne said, adding that it all now depends on the implementation. The agreement recognises that preventing homelessness requires housing, health, employment and social protection services to work together. It also calls for support for young people leaving institutional or foster care and a commitment that no child should lack adequate housing.
Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to call home.
— James Browne, Irish Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
The connection between housing and work also shaped a discussion about people outside the labour market. Ms Mînzatu highlighted carers, people with disabilities and others who could work with suitable support. That can mean childcare, long-term care services, training or an adapted workplace. Governments acknowledged the need for action, but she reported no strong demand for new EU legislation. Most stressed national responsibilities and the differences between their systems.
The distinction leaves the Commission moving at two speeds. Its employment-support initiative remains exploratory, while the Quality Jobs Act is approaching a proposed December launch. Ms Mînzatu argued that filling vacancies alone would not resolve Europe’s employment problems: employers also needed to offer conditions that attract and retain people. “People want fair pay, people want healthy, good working conditions,” she said.
