Legal analysis: platform couriers and platform taxi drivers would likely be considered employees in case of dispute

Olavi Miller, an expert at the Foresight Centre, said that in Estonian practice, platforms consider their workers to be entrepreneurs who provide services to clients found through the platform. “However, recent legal analysis points out that although it is characteristic of platform work to direct workers via algorithmic management, this may not necessarily change the nature of the employment relationship,” Miller said.

Ever since platform work became widespread around a decade ago, the employment status of platform workers has been a notable issue in legal discussions. There have been arguments both in favour of the platform workers considered to be employees and those in favour of them considered to be entrepreneurs.

According to Merle Erikson, professor of labour law at the University of Tartu, if a dispute arose over the employment status of a courier or driver operating through a platform in Estonia, the Labour Dispute Committee or court would likely establish it as an employment relationship.

So far, there have been no disputes regarding the legal status of platform workers in Estonia, but many platforms use similar technological solutions to manage and control employees, and the criteria for determining the status of platform workers are the same across countries. “Based on this, we can assume that in the case of dispute, a courier or driver operating through a platform in Estonia would most likely be considered an employee, and a worker performing gigs through the platform would be considered a temporary worker,” said Erikson.

In Europe, most court disputes have ended with the platform workers being classified as employees. After the criteria for determining the status of platform workers were clarified, in various cases, workers who were previously considered entrepreneurs have also become classified as employees. “In many European countries, as a result of a dispute, platforms have changed their work organisation in way that allows platform workers more freedom than before to decide on how they operate,” said Erikson.

The authors note in their legal analysis that some European countries proceed from the regular principles of distinguishing between workers, in which determining the subordination relationship becomes a decisive factor. Other countries have established additional criteria and an employment contract is expected in the case of partial fulfilment of these criteria.

According to legal analysis, it is not necessary to establish additional criteria for determining the status of platform workers in Estonia. However, preparing guidelines would be useful and helpful to understand which artificial intelligence-based ways of organising work mean subordination relationships. The legal status of platform workers could be assessed by the Labour Inspectorate in Estonia.

The legal analysis explains that the platform work directive, which will soon affect Estonian law, does not determine the legal status of platform workers, but emphasises the need to determine this status correctly. The directive provides for the principle of legal presumption of an employment contract, already known in Estonian law, as the person doing the work is often in a weaker position in contract negotiations than the person providing the work. This means that in the case of a dispute over the nature of the relationship between the parties, the platform has the burden of proving that it is not an employment relationship.

The short report “Is a platform worker an employee or an entrepreneur?” (in Estonian) is based on the legal analysis “Determining the status of platform workers and their employment protection” prepared by Merle Erikson and Elena Hanna Septer. This is part of the study “Impacts and future directions of platform work in Estonia”, which is being carried out by TalTech, the University of Tartu and Tallinn University on behalf of the Foresight Centre and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. The study is a continuation of the future work research stream of the Foresight Centre and platform work in Estonia was mapped within its framework in 2018 and 2021.