This open access book brings together leading European labour law scholars to explore how workers’ representatives’ rights are evolving in the context of the digital transformation of work. Rooted in EU and national legal frameworks, the book examines how information and consultation (I&C) rights must adapt to the challenges posed by platform work, algorithmic management, cross-border telework, and digitalisation more broadly.Structured around 4 key themes—Who is entitled to I&C rights; Where these rights apply in transnational and virtual workplaces; How they are exercised in the context of AI, occupational safety, and industrial democracy; and What new rights are emerging in response to digital risks—the book offers a comprehensive and comparative analysis of labour law in the digital age. It pays particular attention to the role of workers’ representatives in shaping and implementing emerging rights such as the right to disconnect.Drawing on the findings of the DIGILARE research project (EU grant 101126503), the volume provides actionable legal and policy insights for EU institutions, national lawmakers, social partners, and practitioners. It proposes reforms to strengthen democratic participation, enhance transparency in algorithmic decision-making, and safeguard workers’ autonomy in increasingly fragmented and remote work environments.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.
José María Miranda Boto is Professor of Labour Law at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Elisabeth Brameshuber is Professor of Labour and Social Security Law at the University of Vienna, Austria.
Introduction1. Age-Old Values in the Digital World, José María Miranda Boto (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain)Part I: Who2. WHO Represents WHO(m)? The Personal Scope of Information and Consultation Right and the Role of Collective Actors, Michael Doherty (Maynooth University, Ireland)3. Who is a Member of the Workplace Community? Personal Scope of the Right to Information on Company Matters, Lukasz Pisarczyk (University of Silesia, Poland)4. The Consequences of the Presumption of Employment Relationship on Platform Workers’ Right to Information and Consultation, Marie-Cécile Escande-Varniol (Université Lyon 2, France)Part II: Where5. Avoiding a Legal Void Regarding Information and Consultation Rights: Lessons Learnt from Regulations (EC) Nos. 883/2004 and 593/2008, Judith Brockmann (Universität Kassel, Germany)6. Digital Work: Issues and Challenges for the Representation of Workers, Cécile Nicod (Université Lyon 2, France)7. Beyond Borders: Adapting Workplace Representation for Cross-Border Teleworkers, Kübra Dogan Yenisey (Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey)8. Information and Consultation Rights as Tools to Face Digitalization Risks: The Case of Transnational Companies, Piera Loi (Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy)Part III: How9. Information and Consultation Rights in EU Occupational Safety and Health Law in Transnational Digital Workplaces, Gábor Kártyás (Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem, Hungary)10. The Battle between David and Goliath: Trade Unions Facing the Black-Box, Felicia Rosioru (Universitatea Babes-Bolyai, Romania)11. Industrial Democracy in a Digitalising Society, Nicola Gundt (Maastricht University, the Netherlands)Part IV: What12. The Right to Disconnect in Comparative Perspective: The Role of Workers’ Representatives across selected EU Member States, Yolanda Maneiro Vázquez (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain)13. Right to Disconnect: An EU Policy Perspective, Luca Ratti (Université du Luxembourg)14. Algorithmic Management Beyond the Platform Economy, Teresa Coelho Moreira (Universidade do Minho, Portugal)15. Information, Consultation and Collective Bargaining to Handle Risks of Algorithmic Management, Jenny Julén Votinius (Lunds Universitet, Sweden)16. Surveillance and Control and Collective Bargaining in the Digital Era, Daniel Pérez del Prado (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain)Part V: Conclusion17. Towards a 28th Legal Regime for Information and Consultation in a Digital World of Work? Elisabeth Brameshuber (Universität Wien, Austria)