Legal regulation of platform employment in BRICS

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to review the state of legal regulation of platform employment in the BRICS member states, assess common problems and work out ways to solve them. To achieve the goal, the method of comparative legal research was chosen as the main one. Study consists of several sections. In the first section the advantages and disadvantages of using platform employment for different participants are considered, as well as possible areas of mutual coordination of interests for the purpose of a legal settlement of the relations mentioned are modeled. The following sections provide a detailed analysis of the state of legal regulation and existing law enforcement practices in each of the BRICS countries. A brief analysis of the legal regulation in the new BRICS states is provided as a separate section. In all the studied states, there has been an increase in the volume of platform employment to one degree or another; there is a similar distribution structure between countries by gender, age, and professional characteristics of those employed on platforms, fields of activity of platforms, salary levels, as well as problems and risks for those employed on the platform. It has been revealed, the measures taken by states in response to the growth of the virtually unregulated sector of the economy and the growing platform employment vary as following. Some countries are taking a wait-and-see attitude regarding the introduction of regulatory changes, others are introducing soft regulation with a minimum of mandatory requirements, while others are developing special regulation of platform employment, introducing special legal statuses for those employed on platforms, while not always maintaining the line of the real features of these categories of employees. In all the countries considered, there are similar potential areas for further legal regulation: the regulatory definition of the categories of platform employment, the consolidation of the list of responsibilities of digital platforms in front of employees (issues of access to social programs and medical packages, transparency of access to the platform and to conditions of work distribution on it, the possibility of working of one person on multiple platforms, collective rights, clear framework regarding the work regime and recreation, safety of working conditions and the place of its implementation).