Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 386 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in February 2024 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 386 entries and was last updated in February 2024.
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Italy
In July 2018, a collective agreement was concluded in the Italian logistics sector which now for the first time includes food delivery riders in its contractual qualifications. The agreement was signed by the unions Confetra, Anita, Conftrasporo, Can-Fita, Transport Confartigianato, Sna-Casartigiani, and by employer organisations such as Claai and Filt Cgil.
The agreement covers several employment aspects:
Scale of the initiative The agreement led to the signing of several company level collective bargaining agreements. In May 2019, the first agreement in Italy foreseeing the status of employee for food-delivery riders was signed in Laconsegna, a company located in the province of Florence. Furthermore, platform Mymenu which is located in Bologna decided to hire its riders as employees and to apply the terms and conditions foreseen by the sectoral collective agreement of the logistics industry.
In 2021 Just Eat decided to hire its workers as subordinate employees as part of the change towards a new business model which will lead to the hiring of about 4,000 riders throughout Italy. After a negotiation with the signatory trade unions (FILT-CGIL, FIT-CISL and UIL Trasporti) and several grassroots organisations (the so-called Riders Unions), in April 2021 a company labour agreement was reached which places these workers under the premises of the sectoral collective agreement of the logistics industry. According to a company’s press statement, the company level agreement aims at making the national collective labour agreement for the logistics, freight transport, and shipping sector compatible with the food delivery business and the needs of the company.
Further reading
I rider saranno assunti con il CCNL del settore logistica, trasporto, merci e spedizione (justeat.it) Riders assunti con diritti e tutele: accordo sindacale pilota a Firenze – Cgil Firenze CCNL Assodelivery – UGL: una buca sulla strada dei diritti dei rider (questionegiustizia.it)
The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising.
Technological change is accelerating as the capacity of electronic devices to digitally store, process and communicate information expands. Digitalisation is transforming the EU economy and labour markets: nearly one-third of EU workplaces are categorised as highly digitalised. What are the implications of the digital revolution for employment and work?
The rapid rise of the platform economy has led to a marked transformation of European labour markets, and existing regulatory frameworks and voluntary initiatives have yet to catch up. While platform work offers opportunities for workers and employers and potentially contributes to innovation, economic growth and competitiveness in the EU, it has been criticised from the beginning because of the poor employment and working conditions often experienced by workers.
While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion.
