Upon an invitation from the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS), our leading researchers – Iveta Kesane and Maija Spurina – took part in Labour Rights Forum 2022. LBAS interest in the research stems from the new initiative of the European Commission that addresses the rights of platforms workers and is currently discussed in the member states. In the context of this new EC directive, the key question of LBAS was – do the nature and practice of gig-work fits their self-employment status or do they actually should be treated as platform employees.
The presentation was based on the first twenty interviews with Wolt and Bolt couriers in Riga. Here is a visualization of their age, gender, and means of transportation.
In very short, the researchers argued that the practice of food-delivery gig-workers cannot be easily classified in existing framework.
On the one hand, gig-work is controlled by platform algorithms. Algorithmic control is exercised through allocation of delivery requests among couriers, limitation of couriers choice to accept or reject a particular delivery, regulation of the sequence of deliveries, evaluation of the performance of each courier and sanctioning. In most cases, couriers know only vague parameters that affect the algorithmic calculation and base their decisions on trial and error and guesswork. For example, the platforms state that each order is offered to the courier who is closest to the particular restaurant. Many couriers point out that this is not entirely true or at least not that simple. Some, for example, based on their experience, argue that you gets more orders if you move around. Others believe that you get more orders, if you are regularly active on the platform and do not take days off. Algorithmic management and, more importantly, its lack of transparency suggests that gig-workers cannot be seen as ideal type self-employed entrepreneurs.
On the other hand, couriers value highly their autonomy and freedom. In comparison with regular employment, gig-work provides an opportunity to control ones working hours. Many interviewed couriers prized flexible hours and freedom to stop working if you feel emotionally or physically exhausted or have to take care of unplanned emergencies. Also, many expressed appreciation for ability to work without direct supervision and opportunity to regulate the extent of work depending on their financial needs. The transparency and guarantee of payment for the work you have done, was also mentioned as an advantage of gig-work. This suggests, that forcing all gig-workers to become employees would not be an optimal solution either.
You can view full proceedings of the forum, in Latvian, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC7ZMSkVUL4.
The presentation of the gig-work project is towards the end of the forum at 6:23:00.
Full set of slides (in Latvian) in PDF format, you can download here: Prezentācija Darba Tiesību Forumā 2022.