The concept of ‘worker’ in EU competition law

Chapter 3 begins by explaining why employment status matters in the competition law context. It then proceeds by revisiting the original competition law ‘worker’ taxonomy to clarify the reasons why workers are not ‘undertakings’. As it is explained, workers are not ‘undertakings’ because they (i) do not assume any business risks and (ii) work under the control of their employer. The presence of these two elements (non-assumption of business risks and control) signifies, according to the ECJ, that workers are integrated into their principal’s undertaking, acting as auxiliary organs to it (instead of being ‘undertakings’ in and of themselves). Having rationalised and clarified the EU competition law ‘worker’ taxonomy, the chapter shows how it has been superseded by recent changes in labour market structures. More particularly, it explains the difficulty judges currently face in classifying modern-day workers and analyses recent arguments that have been expressed in the literature that quasi-subordinate workers should now be treated as ‘undertakings’. Finally, it critically examines the provisions, impact, and blind spots of the Commission’s 2022 Guidelines on collective bargaining for the solo self-employed.