The Commission is preparing rules for AI in the workplace, the right to disconnect, and subcontracting chains.

The European Commission is preparing a legislative initiative that could introduce new rules for the use of artificial intelligence and algorithmic management in the workplace, telework, the right to disconnect, psychosocial risks, and abuses in subcontracting chains. The act on quality jobs is scheduled for the last quarter of 2026, after consulting social partners, but the Commission has not yet decided what measures will be included in the final proposal.

In short, the Commission is analyzing five areas for possible measures: artificial intelligence and algorithmic management in the workplace, health and safety, subcontracting, just transitions, and the enforcement of rights through social dialogue. The initiative could clarify what information employees should receive when algorithms are used for task allocation, performance evaluation, monitoring, or other decisions that affect their work. Protection against stress and other psychosocial risks, extending safety rules to telework and off-site workspaces, and possible measures regarding the right to disconnect are being examined. The Commission could enhance transparency and the enforcement of rights in complex subcontracting chains, including by examining forms of liability in high-risk sectors. Trade unions are calling for stronger legislative rights, while employer organizations warn against rigid criteria and obligations that could increase administrative burdens and affect competitiveness.

The initiative currently in preparation continues the roadmap for quality jobs, published by the Commission in December 2025. The non-legislative document identified areas where European intervention could improve working conditions and support the adaptation of companies and employees to technological, climate, and demographic changes.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, initially announced the roadmap in the political guidelines for the 2024–2029 mandate. In the 2025 State of the Union address, she presented it as a preparatory step for a legislative act on quality jobs.

The Commission's work program places the initiative in the last quarter of 2026. The Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion is managing the preparation of the proposal, and in the European Parliament, the file will primarily fall under the responsibility of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.

The title "act on quality jobs" does not yet indicate the final legal form. The Commission may propose one or more legislative measures, complemented by recommendations, guidelines, or amendments to the existing framework. The available documents do not establish whether all five areas analyzed will be included.

The first area concerns the use of artificial intelligence and algorithmic management by employers. Such systems can be used for recruitment, scheduling, task allocation, monitoring activity, performance evaluation, and making decisions that affect professional development.

The AI Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, and the Directive on platform workers already provide certain guarantees. However, protections are not identical for all workers and all types of systems.

The Directive on platform workers contains detailed rules for algorithmic management, but these apply to individuals working through digital platforms. Employees in other sectors do not automatically benefit from the same framework.

The AI Act treats certain systems used in employment as high-risk systems. Employers using them must inform workers and ensure human oversight, but a significant part of the obligations of the regulation falls on the providers who develop and introduce the systems to the market.

Data protection rules limit exclusively automated decisions and establish conditions for processing personal data. Their interpretation may vary in cases of employee monitoring, behavior analysis, and automated productivity assessment.

The Commission could clarify the relationship between these regimes and employers' obligations. The stated objective is to facilitate the use of AI in the workplace, accompanied by protections against non-transparent decisions, excessive monitoring, and loss of human control.

The European Parliament Research Service briefing does not specify whether the future proposal will grant workers the right to contest an algorithmic decision, to receive individual explanations, or to request human intervention. These elements depend on the text that the Commission will present.

The second area concerns health and safety in the workplace. The existing framework directive obliges employers to protect workers' health in all aspects related to professional activity, while other directives establish requirements for workplaces and screen equipment.

The Commission is analyzing whether workplace rules need to be more clearly extended to activities carried out outside the employer's premises. The discussion includes telework, digital tools, ergonomic conditions, and risks for people with disabilities.

Psychosocial risks have become an important component of the debate. These can arise from excessive workload, lack of autonomy, constant monitoring, unpredictable schedules, job insecurity, harassment, and the inability to separate work time from personal life.

The right to disconnect is related to this issue. It aims to allow workers not to respond to messages, calls, and professional requests outside working hours without negative consequences.

The European Parliament has been calling since 2021 for a directive applicable to all workers and sectors, both public and private. In 2025, the Commission organized a two-stage consultation with social partners on the right to disconnect and telework, and these topics could be integrated into the future act.

There is still no general European rule that uniformly defines the right to disconnect. Some member states have adopted national norms or left its application to collective contracts and internal company policies.

The third area is subcontracting. The Commission recognizes subcontracting as a legitimate model of economic organization but believes that long and complex chains can facilitate violations of workers' rights.

The risks are more pronounced in cross-border activities and in sectors such as construction, logistics, transport, and agriculture. Workers may be formally employed by a subcontractor while their activity is economically controlled by a company higher up in the chain.

The European framework already contains rules regarding the posting of workers, sanctioning employers who use nationals from third countries without residence rights, seasonal workers, human trafficking, and platform work.

The Commission could pursue better enforcement of these rules, greater transparency in chains, and strengthening the role of social partners. Another option is to examine liability regimes whereby the contracting company can be held responsible for certain violations committed by subcontractors.

It is not established whether liability would be general or limited to certain sectors, types of violations, or levels of the chain. Any measure should define the obligations of companies and the conditions under which they can be held accountable for the conduct of another operator.

The fourth area concerns just transition. Decarbonization, digitalization, and restructuring of certain industries can eliminate certain jobs, transform the necessary skills, and change the distribution of economic activity between regions.

The Commission could enhance early involvement of workers in companies' restructuring decisions. Measures may focus on informing and consulting, collective bargaining, anticipating changes, reskilling, and supporting affected individuals and communities.

The existing framework includes directives on informing and consulting employees, collective redundancies, business transfers, and European works councils. The Commission is analyzing whether these instruments provide a sufficiently coherent response to restructurings associated with the green and digital transition.

The European Parliament has requested a directive on just transition in the world of work in January 2026. The institution has called for an individual right to training during working hours, long-term national strategies, and support programs for companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, and local economies.

The fifth area concerns the enforcement of rights and the role of social partners. The existence of European norms does not guarantee that they are known, monitored, and effectively enforced in every workplace.

The Commission could propose measures for better enforcement of labor law, strengthening social dialogue, and increasing the coverage of collective bargaining. Solutions must take into account the differences between national inspection, representation, and negotiation systems.

The Directive on adequate minimum wages requires member states where collective bargaining coverage is below 80% to create a favorable framework and adopt an action plan to promote collective bargaining.

The Commission presents the quality of jobs as a factor of competitiveness. The Draghi report linked productivity, labor market participation, skills, and working conditions, and the same approach appears in the Compass for Competitiveness, the Union of Skills, and the Pact for a Clean Industry.

The quality of a job is not determined by a single criterion. Existing approaches analyze salary, contract stability, working time, social protection, health and safety, autonomy, work intensity, career prospects, and the ability to use and develop skills.

Eurofound uses seven dimensions: the physical environment, the social environment, the quality of working time, work intensity, skills and autonomy, prospects, and earnings.

The Employment Committee, composed of experts from member states and the Commission, uses an updated framework in 2025 with 13 policy dimensions. These include income, working conditions, stress, psychosocial risks, job security, work-life balance, training, social protection, collective bargaining, and equality of opportunity.

Differences between definitions complicate the establishment of mandatory indicators and the comparison of jobs between sectors and member states. A job may offer a high salary but an unpredictable schedule, excessive intensity, or limited career prospects.

Employer and trade union organizations have different positions on European intervention. BusinessEurope warns that assessing the quality of jobs is difficult and that a too rigid framework can create an artificial hierarchy among occupations.

The employer organization believes that the EU should create conditions for productive jobs, competitive companies, and maintaining the professional capacity of workers. It warns against excessive regulation, administrative burdens, and measures that could interfere with social dialogue.

BusinessEurope identifies among the main issues aging and a declining active population, a high number of inactive individuals, and the mismatch between available skills and those demanded by employers.

The European Trade Union Confederation calls for legislative intervention to regulate AI in the workplace, combat abuses in subcontracting, prevent psychosocial risks, telework, and the right to disconnect.

Trade unions demand the extension of collective bargaining, a right to training during working hours, human oversight over algorithmic management, and stronger rights to permanent contracts and full-time work.

The European Parliament has adopted several legislative resolutions calling for measures in the areas analyzed by the Commission. In December 2025, it requested a directive on digitalization, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic management in the workplace.

The Parliament has called for transparency, human oversight, data protection, informing and consulting workers, as well as guarantees for autonomy, mental health, and work-life balance.

Another legislative initiative is being prepared in the Commission for Employment and Social Affairs regarding psychosocial risks, stress, and mental health in the workplace.

The Parliament's positions do not obligate the Commission to include all these requests in the 2026 proposal. However, they indicate the areas where deputies have already requested European norms and which will influence negotiations after the act is presented.

The European Council called in April 2024 for an integrated approach to productivity and sustainable and inclusive growth, which should include quality jobs and social dialogue. EU leaders subsequently supported the link between job quality, skills, and the European model of innovation.

The Irish Presidency of the Council included among its priorities leading discussions on creating and supporting quality jobs in modern labor markets.

The preparation of the act does not mean that new rights for employees have been adopted. The content, legal instruments, scope, and timeline for implementation will become clear after the formal presentation of the proposal and negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council.

The European Parliament Research Service published the briefing in July 2026 to inform deputies ahead of the Commission's initiative presentation. The document identifies options that may influence the proposal, without representing the official position of the European Parliament.

The 2025 roadmap and the legislative act scheduled for 2026 are distinct initiatives. The first establishes general guidelines, while the second may propose legal obligations for member states, employers, or other categories of actors.

Any potential legislative proposal will need to be analyzed by the Parliament and the Council. The final form may differ from the Commission's draft, and new rules will not become applicable before the completion of the procedure and the fulfillment of the conditions established in the adopted act.