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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Finland
In June 2021, the Finnish Workers’ Compensation Center (TVK) issued three rulings on the question of whether the Workers’ Compensation Act applies to food transport work carried out by couriers. In two of the rulings, the TVK found that the work was carried out in the context of an employment contract as laid out in the Employment Contracts Act. Since the platforms in these cases are considered employers, they are responsible for paying workers’ compensation insurance (which covers workers with medical care and income compensation in case of accidents at work). In one ruling, the TVK held that the food delivery work was not carried out under an employment contract according to the definition of the Employment Contracts Act, but that the worker must be classified as an entrepreneur. Therefore, the insurance is the responsibility of the worker.
According to the TVK, the decisions are based on an ‘assessment of the actual working conditions and take into account the terms and conditions regarding the performance and commissioning of work agreed upon in the work contract’. The rulings are binding for the parties concerned (the insurance company, which submitted the appeal, the worker and the employers). However, the processing of the cases and the rulings themselves are not made public.
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.
