Platform-Based Work in the Digital Economy: Legal Issues Related to Regulation (Federal Law on Aggregators)

Today, platform-based employment involves individuals providing services and performing work with the help of an intermediary – a digital platform. The number of platforms is increasing, and the number of people who use them for their work and to make a living is also growing as a result. However, legislation has only partially resolved such issues as the legal regulation of people who work using platform-based employment and the distribution of responsibility to third parties between platforms and the people who work with them. When building models of the relevant legal mechanisms that are needed, it is crucial to choose the most effective legal means that can both help provide certain guarantees to platform-based employment workers and secure development opportunities for this sector of the economy. Why did platform-based employment emerge and why is it developing? What types of platforms are there? Is working through a digital platform a special type of employment? And if so, how should it be regulated? Is it possible to require all workers on a platform to register as being self-employed? How, on the one hand, can we protect workers on digital platforms from having unfair penalties imposed on them, and, on the other hand, make them legally liable in the labour world? How can we neutralize such negative manifestations as high levels of competition on platforms, a lack of professional growth, and the growing precarization of labour? Will effective legal regulation mechanisms be created for society when regulations on aggregators are adopted?