Platform work and employment conditions

Platform work is an employment form which uses an online platform to match demand and supply for paid labour. In Europe, it is still small in scale but rapidly developing. This results in an increasing heterogeneity among its applications and challenges for existing regulatory frameworks. 

On 19 and 20 July 2018 the Informal meeting of Ministers of Employment and Social Policy (Informal EPSCO) gathers all respective EU ministers, the European Commission, the European social partners and others to discuss upcoming challenges from new forms of work, based on an increasing digitalisation on European labour markets. These new forms of work – such as platform or click work – imply new chances for workers and employers, but also uncertainties for social protection and labour standards.

Juan Menéndez-Valdés, Eurofound's Director, presented to the EPSCO the Agency's first insights and research findings about platform work and employment conditions. 

You can access and download the presentation here

In September, Eurofound will publish a comprehensive report on the topic, which explores the working and employment conditions of three specific types of platform work, labelled local platform-determined, local worker-initiated and online contestant platform work. For each of these types, the physical and social environment, autonomy and control, employment status and access to social protection, and earnings and taxation are assessed based on interviews with platform workers. It will be accompanied by a comparative analysis of the frameworks of platform work in 18 EU Member States, which covers the applicable regulations, workers’ employment status, the formal relationships between clients, workers and platforms, and the organisation/representation of workers and platforms.

Go here to sign up for an email notification when this report will be available.