Exclusion by default: Platform workers' quest for labour protections

Abstract

Obtaining employment and labour protections is anything but straightforward for workers in the platform economy. As this contribution discusses, many judicial bodies and courts have already pointed out that existing labour laws do cover these workers. Still, in practice a considerable number of platform workers still remain outside the protective framework of labour and employment regulations. The rather recent steps taken by regulatory authorities to safeguard these workers' rights more effectively, in conjunction with case law from the higher courts in favour of these workers' entitlements, mean that this reality can no longer be ignored. To contextualise such developments, this contribution outlines what an employment relationship is. In this regard, it puts the misclassification of platform workers into perspective by highlighting other categories of workers whose employment status has also long been questioned. The contribution then turns to recent case law on the employment status of platform workers. It finds that courts can meaningfully contribute to resolving these misclassification issues. At the same time, there are also reasons to believe that without legislative intervention, at least in some countries, this discussion on the employment status of platform workers will continue to flare up, to the detriment of workers' effective protection. In this vein, the contribution describes possible "solutions" that have already been advanced by governments and social partners to grant platform workers the legal certainty and protection they need.