Platform work and labour protection. Flexibility is not enough

23 May 2018 - In April 2018, the Labour Tribunal of Turin, Italy, rejected a claim from six platform workers of the food-delivery company, Foodora, seeking to be reclassified as employees. In reaching his decision, the judge relied extensively on the fact that these workers were allegedly free to decide when to work and to disregard previously agreed shifts, returning a verdict that the six workers were self-employed.The decision in Turin was not the only example. Over the last few months, courts and public bodies in various parts of the world delivered decisions on the employment status of platform workers. While some represented victories for platform workers, a number of these decisions rejected the claims of platform workers to be protected under employment law.