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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France
Deliveroo France proposed to cover the medical teleconsultation expense and to provide a compensation fee equal to €25 for the purchase of protective equipment for its riders. The company has also set up a compensation scheme for workers infected by COVID-19, with an eligibility criterion of workers having to have made a weekly income of €130 during the last four weeks. As for riders who have contracted COVID-19 but earned less the threshold, Deliveroo France promised to pay a lump sum of €230 for 14 days of sick leave.
Scale of the initiative Deliveroo has more than 14,000 riders in France. All of them are eligible for Covid-19 support.
All riders received sanitary kits by post. This was a one-off operation lasting for several months in the beginning of the pandemic. To receive kits, riders only had to submit a request.
As of June 2021, slightly more than 150 riders have benefitted from the Covid-related sick leave costs reimbursement. The maximum compensation was EUR 230 for 14 missed working days. The average payment for an eligible rider, based on how many days they had to stop working, was EUR 208.
Strengths and weaknesses One of the strengths of this initiative was the fact that sanitary kits and masks were provided to riders’ homes by post free of charge. This enabled quick and contactless delivery of necessary goods.
The partnership with Monop has been very successful as it allows riders to receive the masks quickly, regardless of their location.
Moreover, Deliveroo has set up a dedicated team responsible for outreach to other platform workers and raising awareness about the Covid-19 support program. This has helped to promote the initiative and ensure more platform workers have made use of it.
A key weakness of the initiative was that it is very limited in scale. The initiative was deemed to be inadequate by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), both in terms of its short period of sick leave and the low compensation rate.
On the other hand, Deliveroo considers that the initiative has been largely successful, as all the quantitative objectives have been achieved. Deliveroo has also consulted its riders (a unit of 25 platform workers elected democratically), who have also provided largely positive feedback on the initiative.
The initiative is also active in other countries, although the Covid-related sick leave costs reimbursement is only available in France due to the specific legislation that enables it (La loi d'orientation des mobilités). This law has prompted Deliveroo to offer a sick leave indemnity (EUR 30 per day) for up to 15 days in total. To benefit from it, the period of sick leave must be longer than 7 days. The Covid exceptional contributions can be combined with the sick leave indemnity.
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.
