Anticipating and managing the impact of change

Employment and working conditions of selected types of platform work

Report
Updated
23 September 2019
Published
24 September 2018
pdf
Formats
Executive summary in 22 languages
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Related content

Author(s): 
de Groen, Willem Pieter; Kilhoffer, Zachary; Lenaerts, Karolien; Mandl, Irene

Abstract

Platform work is a form of employment that uses an online platform to match the supply of and demand for paid labour. In Europe, platform work is still small in scale but is rapidly developing. The types of work offered through platforms are ever-increasing, as are the challenges for existing regRead more

Platform work is a form of employment that uses an online platform to match the supply of and demand for paid labour. In Europe, platform work is still small in scale but is rapidly developing. The types of work offered through platforms are ever-increasing, as are the challenges for existing regulatory frameworks. This report explores the working and employment conditions of three of the most common types of platform work in Europe. For each of these types, Eurofound assesses the physical and social environment, autonomy, employment status and access to social protection, and earnings and taxation based on interviews with platform workers. A comparative analysis of the regulatory frameworks applying to platform work in 18 EU Member States accompanies this review. This looks into workers’ employment status, the formal relationships between clients, workers and platforms, and the organisation and representation of workers and platforms.

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Formats

  • Report

    Number of pages: 
    86
    Reference no.: 
    EF18001
    ISBN: 
    978-92-897-1749-6
    Catalogue no.: 
    TJ-03-18-239-EN-N
    DOI: 
    10.2806/929950
    Permalink: 
    eurofound.link/ef18001
    Catalogue info

    Employment and working conditions of selected types of platform work

    Author(s): 
    de Groen, Willem Pieter; Kilhoffer, Zachary; Lenaerts, Karolien; Mandl, Irene
    Topics: 
    Platform work; Non-standard employment; Working conditions; New forms of employment; Employment relationship; Digitalisation; Anticipating and managing the impact of change; Working conditions and sustainable work

    Formats

    Cite this publication: 

    Eurofound (2018), Employment and working conditions of selected types of platform work, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 

  • Executive summary

    Number of pages: 
    2
    Reference no.: 
    EF180011
    Catalogue info

    Employment and working conditions of selected types of platform work - Executive summary

    Author(s): 
    Eurofound

    Platform work, understood as the matching of the supply of and demand for paid work through an online platform, is still relatively small in scale but is developing rapidly in the EU. This dynamism and the ever-expanding scope of platform activities present economic opportunities, as well as challenges to existing regulatory frameworks. This study identified 10 common types of platform work, which cover almost all platform workers in the EU. It explores three in detail, based on interviews with platform workers: on-location platform-determined work: low-skilled work allocated by the platform and delivered in person; on-location worker-initiated work: low to moderately skilled work where tasks are selected and delivered in person; online contest work: high-skilled online work, where the worker is selected by the client by means of a contest. Read more in the report - see Related content.

    Available for download in 22 languages

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  • Working papers

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Part of the series

  • New forms of employment

    This series reports on the new forms of employment emerging across Europe that are driven by societal, economic and technological developments and are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. This series explores what characterises these new employment forms and what implications they have for working conditions and the labour market.

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