Abstract (eng)
Recent significant developments in the ICT sector have accelerated the spread of the so-called digital labour platforms. On the one hand these tools represent an important source of opportunities both for businesses and workers, but on the other hand, they can give rise to several challenges for workers, due to the specificities of platform work. Amongst these challenges, the one concerning the employment status of people working through such platforms is probably the most problematic. Indeed, it is not uncommon for businesses to classify those people as self-employed, whilst, in fact, they are employees, thus depriving platform workers of a series of rights to which they should be entitled. This issue, which has been addressed by several international institutions ranging from the International Labour Organisation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, is at the core of public debate both in the European Union and in the United States where national courts are facing an increasing number of lawsuits asking for a more accurate classification of platform workers. In the light of the above, the purpose of this work is therefore threefold, aiming at: a) understanding and framing the problem of platform workers misclassification globally and with a specific focus on the EU and the US, b) systematizing the solutions introduced or proposed by the EU, its Member States and the US to eliminate or limit the effects of misclassification, c) observing how platforms workers can enforce their rights and claim their actual employment status in the context of US and EU courts.