Criticism of working conditions: The big dispute over platform workers

When the Fairwork organization last presented its 2022 report on working conditions in the German platform economy, the industry was a different place. Gorillas was still a fast-growing, up-and-coming ten-minute delivery service; its Turkish competitor Getir was also making inroads into the German market. Both providers are no longer active in Germany. However, according to the analysis, the working conditions of food couriers, caregivers, and rental car drivers, whose services are provided by the platforms, have hardly changed. Rather, a deterioration is observed, write the authors of the Fairwork report on working standards in the German platform economy, presented on Monday.

Fairwork is supported by the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford and the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB). The researchers analyzed publicly available data and conducted interviews with platform workers and, where possible, with managers. They divided their assessment into five categories: pay, working conditions, contracts, management processes, and employee participation. The researchers awarded each category between zero and two points depending on the criteria met. Companies could therefore receive a maximum of ten points.

Lieferando took the lead with four points, followed by the supermarket delivery service Flink with three points, and the domestic help placement platform Helpling with one point. Ride-hailing companies Bolt and Uber , as well as the food delivery services Uber Eats and Wolt, came away completely empty-handed. According to Fairwork, only Flink was able to prove, for example, that its couriers receive the statutory minimum wage for their entire working hours, after deducting labor-related costs.

Costs included unpaid waiting times, travel expenses, vehicle costs, fuel costs, mobile data, car washes, and insurance costs. "Our drivers earn an average of more than 14 euros per hour in regular employment with a fixed hourly wage plus additional bonuses," Lieferando's logistics company Takeaway Express told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Fairwork criticized the fact that the time tracking system does not include the time required for drivers to return to their homes. Furthermore, none of the platforms transparently disclose how exactly their algorithms decide on contract awarding. Couriers and drivers often feel excessively penalized by the algorithm if they decline a job.

The working conditions of so-called platform workers have long been a topic of discussion in Brussels. Last year, the European Parliament passed the "Platform Work Act," which enshrines platform workers in the same way as regular employees. This reverses the burden of proof. Platform workers must demonstrate that they do not control their workers as they do permanent employees. Only then may they classify them as self-employed. The German government is expected to implement the directive into national law within two years.

The providers deny the accusation of bogus self-employment. Lieferando and Flink employ all their drivers directly. Competitor Uber Eats instead works with logistics service providers in Germany, and Wolt also only employs some of its couriers on a permanent basis. The companies argue that the drivers are permanently employed by the "partner companies." The third-party companies do not work exclusively for one platform, but for several. Therefore, the accusation of bogus self-employment is not true. The situation is similar in the ride-hailing business, say Uber and Bolt. There, the drivers are also employed by private rental car companies. Union representatives counter that the drivers are not told where to go by the subcontractors, but by the apps. This means that the responsibility lies with the platforms.

Fairwork writes in its report that the subcontracting model does not guarantee fair labor standards. While platforms expect subcontractors to employ workers on an employee basis, the reality is different. Some workers work without a contract at all, or are treated like self-employed or freelance contractors even with a formal employment contract. Others with fixed-term contracts receive informal compensation for significantly more hours worked than stated in their contracts. According to Fairwork, the platform workers surveyed often receive no health or social benefits and are not insured while working.

When asked for comment, Wolt stated that while it recognizes the importance of independent assessments such as the Fairwork ranking, it did not participate in the survey this year. While the methods and criteria are "well-intentioned," they do not reflect the "complexity and legal constraints of our operating model." It also stated that directly employed couriers are "completely ignored." Partner companies are comprehensively and regularly audited. Uber stated that the report presents a distorted picture of the rental car and delivery industry by relying on individual cases. Partners are contractually obligated to comply with legal requirements. "If they fail to comply with the rules and we become aware of this, we will take appropriate action, including blocking them from our platform." A Bolt spokesperson expressed a similar view: "The main problem with the Fairwork approach is that it is based on a fixed ideological assumption: platforms should conform to the traditional employment model." This "one-sided view" ignores the value that flexibility and independence represent for many workers.