Bridging Law and Code in Algorithmic Management: Empowering Worker Rights Through Transparency and Portability

The growing use of algorithmic systems by digital labor platforms has transformed employment relations, introducing opaque and automated decision-making in areas such as task allocation, pay, and termination. In response, legal frameworks—particularly in the European Union—have begun to address these challenges through rights to algorithmic transparency and data portability. This paper argues that these two legal instruments, while often treated separately, can function as complementary and mutually reinforcing tools to reduce algorithmic harms in platform-based work. Drawing on the EU Platform Work Directive, the GDPR, the Data Act, and emerging practices such as algorithmic audits and worker data cooperatives, the paper develops a regulatory-technological framework for operationalizing these rights. It shows how the deliberate interplay of legal mandates and technical implementationscanenhanceaccountability, enablec ollective action, and reduce power asymmetries between workers and platforms. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to strengthen enforcement, standardization, and worker participation in algorithmic governance.