Embedding platforms in contemporary labour law

This chapter advances ideas about how to embed digital labour platforms into contemporary labour law. It does so along two lines. First, the chapter argues that any person engaged by another to provide labour should be covered by labour law, unless that person is genuinely operating a business on her or his own account. The chapter points to the ABC tests in the United States as a potential mechanism to achieve this. Subsequently, the second part of this chapter argues that, even if platform workers remained self-employed, some would be entitled to labour and social protections under the ILO's Private Employment Agencies Convention and Home Work Convention. This is highly significant in light of the Global Commission on the Future of Work's proposal to launch an international governance system for online platforms.