Enhancing labour standards and protection measures for platform workers - Phase 2

Background

With the rise of digital labour platforms, many countries have taken steps to ensure protection of platform workers with a changing world of work, which have been accompanied by new legal frameworks. In addition, legislative proposals are under consideration in several jurisdictions. The proportion of workers working in the platform economy is expected to grow significantly in the coming years as platforms penetrate into different sectors of the economy. It is therefore increasingly important to map the various legal and regulatory developments and its impact on decent working conditions, employment and the platform companies. This would help to develop and support a holistic knowledge base for nationally driven policy options.

Key Focus Areas

This project aims to explore the evolving landscape of the platform economy and to ensure that labour laws are able to address the challenges of new work arrangements, such as platform work. The objective of this project is to enhance the policy knowledge of stakeholders to address the challenges related to platform work. This entails not only addressing challenges but also harnessing the opportunities while having a comprehensive understanding of complexities associated with platform work. As part of this project, research will be conducted on current legal and regulatory frameworks in various countries pertaining to platform work policies and standards. To achieve these goals, the project will:

1. analyse the impacts of policy measures on platform work conducted
2. compile legislative policies concerning the legal status of platform workers
3. increase understanding of the legal and regulatory issues in various countries in setting international standards for platform work.

Expected Impact

The findings of the project related to policy impacts will provide policymakers with meaningful information on each policy's effect and help in determining the optimal policy choice that would be feasible for implementation given a country's situation and its objectives. The outputs of this project will also lead to increased understanding of the diverse and multi-layered nature of platform work. These efforts aim to increase the understanding of ILO constituents, fostering more evidence-based policymaking at the country level, as well as contributing to the ILO's efforts in developing international standard(s) on decent work in the platform economy, ensuring a comprehensive labour and social protection for platform workers.

Especially, as part of the new ILO Observatory on AI and Work in the Digital Economy, this project has contributed to creating the “Digital Labour Policy Tracker”, which monitors legislative and regulatory developments. The Digital Labour Platform Tracker provides policymakers, employers, union representatives, and researchers worldwide with the latest information—including legislation, collective bargaining agreements, and judicial decisions—on this rapidly evolving landscape of digital labour platforms.