Platform-mediated work is a source of livelihood for millions of workers worldwide.
However, because platforms typically classify workers as ‘independent
contractors’, those workers are generally excluded from the scope of labor
rights. This has a corrosive effect on working standards of platform workers,
creating the need for an international regulatory framework to prevent a race to
the bottom. To address this situation, the article proposes an outline for an International
Labor Organization (ILO) Convention for the regulation of platform
work going beyond the employee/independent contractor dichotomy. It identifies
five core issues in the platform economy – low pay, poor working conditions,
inaccessible and unreasonable contracts, unfair management, and a lack of representation
– and demonstrates how existing ILO standards could be adapted to
address these issues
