Platform work database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s Platform Work Database provides information on 457 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in June 2026 and provides metadata for each entry, such as geographical scope, year, type of initiative, actors involved, sector and companies concerned. Initiatives include legal instruments such as legislative changes or court decisions, as well as voluntary interventions undertaken by different stakeholders to address issues around platform work.
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The database currently contains 457 entries and was last updated in June 2026.
The International Labour Organisation formally adopted Convention No. 193 (Decent Work in the Platform Economy Convention, 2026) at its 114th Session in Geneva. It the first international labour standard dedicated specifically to the platform economy; it establishes a baseline of rights and protections for digital platform workers while supporting digital business opportunities, fair competition, and social dialogue.
Scope and Classification * The convention applies to all digital labour platforms and platform workers, regardless of their legal employment status. It covers both self-employed individuals and employees, operating via location-based (in-person) or online platforms.
Core Protections and Algorithmic Management *: It covers essential workplace areas including occupational health and safety, remuneration, social security, prevention of violence and harassment, data privacy, access to justice, and protections for migrant and refugee workers.
The convention establishes rules for automated systems and algorithmic management. It mandates transparency, worker safeguards, and formal review mechanisms whenever automated or AI-driven systems monitor work, evaluate performance, or generate decisions like account deactivations and terminations.
Platforms cannot bypass the convention by using third-party intermediaries or operating across national borders. Member states must define the joint responsibilities of platforms and intermediaries and cooperate internationally to ensure compliance.
Implementation and Flexibility * The convention serves as a minimum regulatory floor. It ensures that platform employees receive protections equal to traditional employees and explicitly prohibits the reduction of any existing national labour rights.
*: C193 is not immediately binding. It becomes legally enforceable within a country only after that specific member state formally ratifies it, though it serves as immediate policy guidance globally.
This digital story presents headline findings on the working conditions and information needs of online platform workers across key areas: Who platform workers are; Where they operate geographically; Their working conditions and earnings; How algorithmic management impacts their work; Information needs about rights and protecting workers in the digital economy.
This report analyses the working conditions and information needs of online platform workers based on a survey of 3 830 workers across 15 EU Member States. Unlike existing research focused on on-location platform work, this study examines workers who provide services entirely online. The findings reveal a workforce that is predominantly male, of prime working age and highly educated, primarily delivering skilled professional services rather than microtasks.
Building on Eurofound’s established conceptual framework of the digital age, this concept paper examines how the unfolding artificial intelligence wave is set to transform not only the world of work and employment, but also the wider fabric of society, from the delivery and quality of public services to the production, dissemination and governance of information. The analysis is guided by four vectors of change – automation, augmentation, digitisation and platformisation – identified as the central drivers shaping this transformation. The concepts presented in this paper will inform Eurofound’s future research on artificial intelligence and algorithmic management.
Findings of a new Eurofound–ELA survey conducted in 15 Member States confirm the widespread use of intrusive algorithmic management practices in online platform work.
This working paper aims to provide an overview of the legal landscape of online platform work in the EU, focusing on a set of key issues relating to the rights and protections of online platform workers. Specifically, regulations concerning working conditions and social protection, the complexities of cross-border platform work, and regulations on algorithmic management, data privacy, and protection.
This article explores how algorithmic management operates, distinguishing between rule-based and AI-driven approaches, and examines how it automates key managerial functions such as planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. It also considers the implications for workers’ employment status, drawing on recent court rulings, and assesses its impact on working conditions, highlighting both potential benefits such as efficiency gains and risks including reduced autonomy, unfair treatment and privacy infringements.
Non-EU
EU 27