Platform work: Maximising the potential while safeguarding standards?
Published: 23 September 2019
Platform work emerged onto European labour markets about a decade ago. While still small in scale, it is growing and evolving into a variety of forms. Different types of platform work have significantly different effects on the employment and working conditions of the affiliated workers. To be effective, policy responses aimed at ensuring decent conditions in platform work should take these differences into consideration, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach. This policy brief highlights the main opportunities and challenges of specific types of platform work and illustrates some of the first attempts at addressing them in the EU.
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ISBN
978-92-897-1967-4
Number of pages
Reference no.
EF19045
ISBN
978-92-897-1967-4
Catalogue number
TJ-AR-19-003-EN-N
DOI
10.2806/212968
Permalink
http://eurofound.link/ef19045
This section provides access to content that is related to the publication.
26 September 2019
Potential of platform work may depend on greater protection of workers
24 September 2018
Employment and working conditions of selected types of platform work
Platform work is a form of employment that uses an online platform to match the supply of and demand for paid labour. In Europe, platform work is still small in scale but is rapidly developing. The types of work offered through platforms are ever-increasing, as are the challenges for existing regulatory frameworks. This report explores the working and employment conditions of three of the most common types of platform work in Europe. For each of these types, Eurofound assesses the physical and social environment, autonomy, employment status and access to social protection, and earnings and taxation based on interviews with platform workers. A comparative analysis of the regulatory frameworks applying to platform work in 18 EU Member States accompanies this review. This looks into workers’ employment status, the formal relationships between clients, workers and platforms, and the organisation and representation of workers and platforms.
