On 28 September 2026, the European Commission's second-phase consultation on the Quality Jobs Act quietly closed. Few workplace stories this year carry more long-term weight for the 450 million people living in the European Union: the resulting proposal, expected before the end of 2026, could become the first piece of legislation to set a common floor across the bloc for telework, the right to disconnect and the use of artificial intelligence to manage workers.
The stakes were underlined just days before the deadline. On 25 September, Korinna Schumann — chair of the Party of European Socialists network and Austria's minister for labour, social affairs, health, care and consumer protection — together with German MEP Gaby Bischoff, wrote to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu calling for "an ambitious Quality Jobs Act making a difference for workers across Europe". Their letter laid out a detailed wish list: a directive on AI and algorithmic management at work codifying the "human-in-control" principle, stronger worker protection in subcontracting chains, a dedicated directive on psychosocial risks, and binding European legislation on teleworking and the right to disconnect.
What the Quality Jobs Act is
The Act is a legislative package the Commission has been preparing since it presented the Quality Jobs Roadmap in December 2025. According to legal analysis of the initiative, five priority areas have been identified: algorithmic management and AI at work; health and safety at work; workers' rights in subcontracting chains; fair digital and green transitions; and enforcement and the role of social partners.
The final legislative structure — whether one directive covering all areas or several separate instruments — has not yet been confirmed by the Commission. What happens next depends on the consultation outcome: it could lead to a negotiated agreement between EU-level social partners (unions and employer organisations), or the Commission could move directly to a legislative proposal. Either way, a formal proposal is expected before the end of 2026.
AI and algorithmic management: the "human-in-control" principle
One of the most consequential areas under examination is how employers use AI and algorithms to direct work. The Commission is analysing possible measures that would clarify what information employees must receive when algorithms are used for task allocation, performance evaluation, monitoring, or other decisions affecting their work — and what rights workers have to human review of those decisions.
The PES letter explicitly calls for a directive codifying the "human-in-control" principle: automated systems may assist management, but a human being must remain accountable for decisions affecting workers' livelihoods. Trade unions are pushing for strong legislative rights in this area, while employer organisations warn against rigid criteria and obligations that could increase administrative burdens and affect competitiveness.
This work sits alongside the EU AI Act, whose high-risk obligations for workplace and HR AI systems have been pushed to December 2027. Together, the two instruments would form the most comprehensive regulatory framework anywhere in the world for how AI is deployed inside the employment relationship — a framework that multinational employers operating in the EU will need to navigate regardless of where their headquarters sit.
The right to disconnect: from patchwork to common floor
Right-to-disconnect protections currently vary widely across the EU. France, Luxembourg, Spain and others have statutory schemes; several member states have no specific rule at all. Where enforcement exists, it has teeth: in France, employers face fines of up to €3,750 and potential criminal liability for violating disconnection rules; Portugal applies per-contact fines for after-hours outreach; Spain treats the absence of a mandatory disconnection policy as a violation in itself.
A Quality Jobs Act would be the first attempt to set a common floor across the bloc — and for multinational employers, the compliance imperative is already clear: audit the countries where you operate, implement technical solutions such as delayed email delivery and server-side quiet hours, train managers, and document policies. The cost of proactive compliance is far below the penalties, litigation exposure and reputational damage of violations.
The debate is not confined to the EU. In the United Kingdom, the government previously pledged to introduce a right to disconnect under a code of practice, though it remains unclear whether that pledge will be taken forward post-Brexit. Ireland approved a non-binding code of practice on 1 April giving employees a "right to disconnect" — but employment law specialists note that Irish workers already enjoy strong protection under the European Working Time Directive, including an 11-hour uninterrupted daily rest period, and that a recent European Court decision strengthened the position further by ruling that time spent reaching a workplace or completing work within a set period counts as working time.
Telework and psychosocial risks
The consultation also covers fair telework rules and the extension of occupational safety protections to workplaces outside the traditional office. The Commission is examining measures on psychosocial risks — stress, burnout, harassment — alongside work-related musculoskeletal disorders and gender-based violence and harassment at work.
This matters because the friction points remote workers already report map directly onto the areas on the table: always-on contact, opaque productivity tracking, and the blurring of home and workplace. The direction of travel is set; the question is how prescriptive the final rules will be.
Subcontracting chains and enforcement
The Commission could also enhance transparency and enforcement of rights in complex subcontracting chains, including examining forms of liability in high-risk sectors — an attempt to prevent labour exploitation where layers of subcontractors obscure who is ultimately responsible for working conditions. The PES letter additionally calls for a directive on the inclusion of people excluded from the labour market.
Enforcement is a theme running through the whole package: new rights mean little without inspection capacity and meaningful sanctions, and the fifth priority area — enforcement and the role of social partners — reflects that reality.
What employers and workers should do now
For employers with EU operations, the prudent move is to start preparing before the proposal lands. That means mapping where algorithmic tools are used in hiring, scheduling, monitoring and performance decisions; reviewing after-hours contact practices against the strictest existing national standards (France and Portugal are the ones to watch); and ensuring telework policies address health, safety and working-time recording for home-based staff.
For workers, the consultation's close marks the moment when Europe's workplace rulebook begins its most significant rewrite in a generation. The "always-on" culture of the smartphone era is encountering enforceable boundaries — and by this time next year, those boundaries may be written into law across all 27 member states.
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