Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 412 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in March 2025 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 412 entries and was last updated in March 2025.
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Ireland
The Irish Workplace Relations Commission has confirmed the existence of an employment relationship in the case Lauren McBride v FSR Atlantic Ltd t/a ADHD Now. This decision was reached by applying the five-step test to determine an employment status which the Supreme Court has formulated in 2023.
The case is brought about by the Complainant Lauren McBride, who interviewed for an Assistant Psychologist position with the platform, believing she would be a full-time employee, but later realised she was hired as an independent contractor with no guaranteed hours. Despite being obliged to make herself available to work at least 10 hours a week, she only received 8 hours of work over a period of two months and alleges breaches of her employment rights, while the Respondent maintains that all their workers are independent contractors with no employment relationship.
The Workplace Relations Commission determined that the two parties had a binding agreement where the Complainant would be paid for their work, and that the Respondent had enough control over the Complainant to qualify their arrangement as an employment contract. This was substantiated by the argument that the platform directed the worker on how, when, and what kind of work was to be done, was in sole control over the duration of work, required the work to be carried out with the platform's tools, and lastly, determined how much time was to be spent on administration.
As a result, Lauren McBride had no control over the income generated from her work. The Workplace Relations Commission noted that the wording used in the contract signed between the two parties was not decisive even if it made explicit that there is no employment relationship, as this did not reflect the reality.
The court case concerns the contract between Karshan (Midlands) Limited Trading as Domino’s Pizza (Dominos) and the delivery drivers. The contract identified delivery drivers as ‘independent contractors’, stipulating among others …
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.
