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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Netherlands
On 24 March 2023 the Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld a ruling by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, qualifying on-location platform-determined work by Deliveroo riders as employees. The Court ruled that while riders were engaged for work that had elements of a contract for services, for example, a ‘certain freedom to work whenever they wanted’, a holistic view is most important. When taking the terms and conditions of the work in its totality, all factors led to the riders being employees.
The ruling by the Supreme Court is based on article 7:610 DCC. The provision of a mandatory law defines what qualifies an employment relationship and part of the spirit of the law is indeed to stop bogus self-employment. The three main criteria in establishing a ‘relationship of authority’, and which were confirmed by the Court in its ruling, are work, wages and control. The Court has stated that they will not generate new rules as it pertains to assessing the (mis-)classification of workers, as this topic is currently being worked on by legislators at the national and European level.
Trade union FNV began the judicial process in 2018, filing a claim that Deliveroo riders were entitled to standard employee rights (e.g., sick pay and dismissal procedures), invoking article 7:610 DCC. FNV union has called on the Dutch Parliament to intervene to ensure all workers' rights for food delivery couriers in the Netherlands.
The Advocate General has issued a 125 page ‘advisory opinion’ since this case, providing contextual information as well as barriers to accurately classifying this on-location platform-determined work. In particular, the report recommends the criterion, ‘control’, must have new standards which are fit-for-purpose. The term ‘organisationally embedded’ is introduced to help define if a worker is part of company’s core activities. If affirmed, that would aid in meeting the criteria ‘control’. Another significant contribution is the recommendation that someone being in low-paid and low-skilled work is an important factor which must be taken into account when considering whether they have negotiated rights and obligations, or whether these have been unilaterally determined by the work provider.
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.
