Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 389 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 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 389 entries and was last updated in June 2024.
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Spain
The Social Court number 18 of Barcelona has ruled on 06 February 2024 that the home delivery company Stuart must pay 237,000 Euro for 108 of its riders in order to respect social security contributions to the Treasury of Social Security.
The ruling refers to the time period from 2016 to 2019, during which Rider's Law had not yet entered into force in Spain. The court has found that the 108 riders were wrongly classified as self-employed, while they should have been members of staff. The reason behind the decision of the court is the dependency it has found between the riders and Stuart. More specifically, the riders were managed, orders could only be received through the platform, and their schedules were organized by Stuart. According to the court, Stuart and the riders were in an employment relationship, and arguments such as the fact that riders' schedules were not fixed do not change this.
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.
