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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Germany
The Federal Labour Court (BAG) confirmed the employee status of a platform worker from Bavaria, Germany. According to the legal requirements in Germany, an employment relationship will be recognised when the company controls the cooperation via its online platform operated in such a way that the contractor is not able to freely design his/her activities in terms of location, time and content. This is the case here, with the processing of the individual orders being precisely prescribed and the incentives designed in a way that the worker has little autonomy in deciding whether to accept the orders. However, the platform had temporarily terminated a possible employment relationship as a precaution. Because the plaintiff had not invoked protection against dismissal, this termination was effective, ruled the BAG. The Munich Regional Labour Court has yet to clarify to what extent the plaintiff is still entitled to pay-back wages for vacation and illness.
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.
