The Greek government is preparing new rules to regulate the use of algorithms by digital labor platforms – the best-known of which in Greece include efood, BOX and Wolt – strengthening workers’ data protection and increasing transparency over how their work is allocated, monitored and evaluated.

Labor and Social Security Minister Niki Kerameus presented the draft legislation, which she said aims to establish safeguards against the uncontrolled use of automated systems in employment management and to improve working conditions for people employed through digital platforms.

The proposed rules address automated systems that allocate orders and tasks, monitor delivery workers’ performance and evaluate their activity.

Under the proposed framework, workers, mainly drivers, would have the right to information about how algorithms operate, which data they use and the criteria applied when making decisions affecting them. They would also be able to request explanations and reviews of decisions taken exclusively through automated processes.

File photo: Greece Corfu, 2025-06-06. A delivery rider on a white moped speeds through an urban street at dusk.  

Restrictions on personal data and automated decisions

The draft legislation prohibits the processing of certain sensitive categories of personal data for employment management. These include information about workers’ purported psychological condition, medical history, biometric characteristics, racial or ethnic origin and private communications.

The aim is to prevent the collection and use of sensitive information unrelated to the performance of their work.

Decisions affecting the continuation of a working relationship would also be subject to stricter safeguards. Restricting, suspending or permanently deactivating a worker’s account, or terminating their collaboration with a platform, would not be permitted solely on the basis of an automated decision. Human oversight would be required to ensure that individual cases are properly assessed and that unjustified or erroneous decisions can be challenged.

Platforms would also have to protect workers’ health and safety against risks associated with algorithmic management, including excessive workloads and pressure to deliver orders faster.

Digital platforms register planned

A central provision is the creation of a special register of digital platforms within the ERGANI employment information system.

Platforms would be required to declare the people providing services through them and submit information including the number of workers, general contractual terms, average working hours, average earnings per worker and the intermediaries involved in providing services.

The register is intended to improve transparency and help authorities monitor employment arrangements in a sector where working conditions are frequently determined through digital applications.

The proposed legislation would preserve the possibility of working through a platform either as an employee or as an independent contractor.

However, it would introduce a rebuttable presumption of dependent employment when the conditions laid down by law are met. This would give workers a stronger basis for seeking recognition of their actual employment status when the practical arrangements indicate a relationship of control and direction by the platform.

The provision would not automatically classify every platform worker as an employee. Instead, the actual circumstances of the working relationship would carry greater weight than the label attached to the contract.

Repeated strikes over pay and job security

The proposed legislation follows a series of strikes and work stoppages organized by delivery workers at efood and Wolt over pay, employment status, occupational safety and the use of subcontractors.

In November 2025, workers at the two platforms organized work stoppages on consecutive days, with protests in Athens and other parts of Greece. Their demands included collective labor agreements, protection against reductions in earnings, workplace accident coverage and personal protective equipment.

On Feb. 12, 2026, efood workers staged a nationwide 24-hour strike, with actions reported in Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos and Kalamata.

Another coordinated work stoppage by efood and Wolt workers was called for July 19, coinciding with the World Cup final. The unions sought better pay, safer working conditions and stronger employment protections.

On Oct. 22, a four-hour work stoppage brought together 14 unions for a demonstration outside the Labor Ministry in Athens. The action focused on stronger legal safeguards for platform workers ahead of the deadline for incorporating the relevant European Union directive into Greek law.

The mobilizations have included demonstrations and motorcades in several cities. However, participation figures and the overall impact on delivery services were not established, making it difficult to assess the extent to which the stoppages disrupted platform operations.

A significant precedent was the 2021 efood dispute. Following protests by delivery workers and a consumer boycott, the company reversed a plan to replace certain employment contracts with freelance arrangements and offered indefinite-duration contracts to the affected riders.

European rules set the framework

The Greek initiative forms part of a wider European effort to regulate employment through digital platforms.

EU Directive 2024/2831, adopted in October 2024, addresses employment status, algorithmic management, transparency and the protection of workers’ personal data. Member states must incorporate the directive into national law by Dec. 2, 2026.

For delivery platforms, the proposed Greek rules could require adjustments to the systems used to distribute orders, monitor performance and determine access to work. They would also increase obligations concerning employment records and personal data protection.