Social Sustainability and Decent Work on Digital Labour Platforms

The case discusses platform work - a triangular relationship between workers, digital intermediaries and customers or organisations - considering both on-location platform labour and digitally delivered services. Digital platforms are a new business model which carries some advantages (easy entrance, work that can be carried out from anywhere in the world in the case of digitally delivered services) but it also comes hand in hand with a number of challenges particularly as regards working conditions. The main focus of the case is on working conditions in the platform economy, including the role of algorithmic management. Concepts such as job quality, decent work and precarious work are discussed and the students are introduced to a range of regulatory initiatives that focus on improving the working conditions on labour platforms. Examples of supranational binding regulations (an EU Directive on decent work in the platform economy) as well as non-binding international regulation initiatives are flagged up. This case is part of the CBS free case collection (visit www.thecasecentre.org/CBSfreecases for more information on the collection).