Thinking Out of the Box: Fair Work for Platform Workers

Abstract

The burgeoning gig economy largely operates outside of existing labour standards,
\nmainly because in most countries workers are classified as self-employed rather than
\nas employees. Until now, much legal effort has been focused on bringing platform
\nworkers within the scope of labour law by proving that they fit the definition of
\nemployee or worker, which functions as the gateway to employment rights. This has
\nyielded some positive outcomes, particularly in exposing sham self-employment.
\nHowever, this approach is limited, not least because platforms are adept at reconfiguring
\ntheir conditions of work to avoid the legal definition of employee, or at fragmenting their
\ncorporate structure to evade the jurisdiction of courts in the region where workers in fact
\nfind themselves. By contrast, not enough attention has been paid to how labour law standards,
\nfashioned for the ‘employee’ paradigm, should be reshaped to meet the needs of
\nplatform workers regardless of their employment status.