Platform economy database
Database of initiatives and court cases in the EU
Eurofound’s platform economy database provides information on 281 initiatives and court cases that exist or have been implemented in relation to activities in the platform economy. The database was last updated in December 2022 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 281 entries and was last updated in December 2022.
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Greece
On 19 June 2021 Greece’s new labour law 4808/2021 came into force.
The law sets new regulations for platform workers. Articles 68-72 establish a protective framework for those engaging in platform work on digital platforms.
Article 68 defines what a digital platform is under Greek employment law, stating that digital platforms ‘are businesses that operate either directly or as intermediaries by connecting, through an online platform, service providers or businesses or third parties with users or customers or consumers to either facilitate transactions between them or to directly trade with them’.
Article 69 defines the contractual relationship between digital platforms and service providers. The article recognizes two forms of employment for digital platforms:
Article 69 introduces a presumption against characterising a contractual relationship as ‘dependent employment’. An exhaustive list of conditions must be fulfilled for a service provider to not be considered a dependent employee. These include the ability to choose one’s hours and the type and the amount of work to be executed as well as the ability to employ subcontractors without being bound by any non-competition clause.
The law also guarantees trade union rights for the providers of independent services. Article 70 states that service providers have the right to set up organisations that promote their professional interests. Service providers are also guaranteed the right to strike, the right to negotiate collectively and to draw up collective bargaining agreements. Article 71 regulates health and safety conditions of service providers. The article states that platforms are responsible for the welfare, health and safety of any type of worker regardless of contract type.
Under Article 72, platforms also have an obligation to inform service providers of their statutory rights before the commencement of their duties and provide them with a written and a digital copy of their contract. The contract must specify the nature of the duties to be carried out, must inform the service provider of statutory trade union rights, must specify that the health and safety of the service provider is the sole responsibility of the platform and reference that these rights and responsibilities are all provided for in extant legislation.
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.
