Introduction: Social protection for digital platform workers in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
Isabelle Daugareilh
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-63
Author(s):  
Y. Xu ◽  
D. Liu

This paper discusses the status and implications of the employment relations and working conditions experienced by digital platform workers; the analysis is based on a survey conducted in 2017 on 1 338 workers engaged in work-on-demand via apps (WODVA) from 25 platforms in Beijing, of whom 48.8 % are full-time WODVA workers or take WODVA as their primary job. The survey finds that nearly a half of the respondents engage in platform work due to a lack of employment opportunities in formal labor markets or their permanent jobs providing insufficient income. The respondents reveal substantial decent work deficits in representation, compensation, job stability, social protection, working time, and health and safety: 1) WODVA workers seldom have any voice in labor dispute settlements and have a very low rate of unionization; 2) about one third of the full-time WODVA workers cannot earn a living wage and 7.6 % of them earn less than the minimum wage level; 3) three quarters of the full-time WODVA workers have no labor contract with the platforms or other employers, nor access to employer-contributed social insurances; 4) overtime work and underemployment coexist among full-time respondents, with nearly 10 % working for fewer than 4 hours per day while nearly 10 % work for more than 11 hours per day; 5) a majority of respondents run a higher risk of occupational health or physical risks, without any protection provided by the platforms or employers. To promote decent work by digital platform workers, the State needs to establish a portable social security system extending to all workers, to facilitate association and collective actions of platform workers either by extending the outreach of traditional unions or fostering new forms of organizations, to leverage digital technology to facilitate platform workers’ organization and information sharing, and even to promote universal basic income and a workers’ cooperative of platforms in the long run.


Author(s):  
G. Z. Yuzbashieva ◽  
A. M. Mustafayev ◽  
R. A. Imanov

The indicators that determine the change in the macroeconomic situation in the economy of Azerbaijan in 2010–2017, as well as the conditions for increasing the effectiveness of state intervention in solving economic problems are analyzed. It is noted that it is not the size of the public sector that becomes important, but its qualitative component (management and redistribution of resources and revenues, coordination of government intervention in economic relations). The main reasons limiting economic growth are identified, and the mechanisms for overcoming them are disclosed, since economic growth is of particular importance in the transformational period of state development. It substantiates the assertion that the forms and methods of state regulation should be the result of a reasonable combination of the private and public sectors of the economy to more effectively achieve the goal of economic development of the country and increase the welfare of the population. To this end, it is advisable to limit the actions of market forces and find a rational ratio of market and government measures that stimulate economic growth and development.It is shown that in the near future the development of the economy of Azerbaijan should be focused on the transition to the integration of various models of economic transformation; at the same time, “attraction of investments” should be carried out by methods of stimulating consumption, and the concept of a socially oriented economy, which the state also implements, should prevail, thereby ensuring social protection of the population and at the same time developing market relations. Disproportions in regional and sectoral development are also noted, which are the result of an ineffective distribution of goods produced, inadequate investment in human capital, a low level of coordination and stimulation of economic growth and development.


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