Transformation of the Legal Status of Digital Platform Employees

Abstract

The active development of digital platforms has led to the spread of new forms of labour relations organization. On the one hand, the platforms allowed a large number of people to find work and an additional source of income, to develop competition. But on the other hand, the lack of the clear market regulation for the rights of employees of digital platforms has led to discrimination of their labour rights, the establishment of irregular working hours, etc. A new form of employment (working in the field of digital platforms) poses new challenges to modern labour legislation. For example, questions on the characteristics of a digital platform employee, criteria for distinguishing them from hired worker and self-employed, as well as questions on the list of labour guarantees on the platforms need to be addressed. In this paper, these issues are studied both from the perspective of international organizations and individual countries that have secured the status of employees of digital platforms. The authors pay special attention to the issues of differentiation between hired workers and self-employed individuals and consider trends in the development of labour law on the example of specific court cases.