Igor Zubku
As the digital economy is evolving faster than the regulations governing it, new forms of employment relationships often go beyond traditional definitions of employment. In this sense, the status of digital platforms is not always certain. Simply put, how to categorize them, as employers or intermediaries in such relationships, is not always clear.
Employees of platforms can perform tasks without being tied to a specific location – data entry, online services (accounting, writing and editing, sales and marketing, IT tasks, online tutorials and counseling). Some types of work, and most of them are, on the contrary, tied to a specific location, but the assignment of tasks and control over their execution is done online. These are transportation and delivery services, as well as short-term rentals.
Working on the platform is considered a non-standard form of employment and is difficult to fit into the framework of classical labor. For a long time, the world has not developed common rules in this regard, which created a “gray zone” and made it difficult to distinguish between traditional employment and self-employment. Platform owners rarely clarify the status of the employed in the provisions on working conditions, considering themselves as intermediaries between the customer and the service provider. They therefore tend to shift some of the costs, risks and liabilities to the performer, especially the self-employed, or to the customer.
“Many of these workers are classified as self-employed, although their relationship with platforms is actually an employment relationship,” said Igor Zubcu, chairman of CNSM, during a roundtable dedicated to the World Day of Decent Work, celebrated on October 7. – Moldova is not an exception in this respect. Digital transformation changes the way of interaction on the labor market, but it should not deprive workers of the rights provided by the labor law.”
Courts in the EU are increasingly issuing decisions that challenge the standard classification of platform workers as self-employed. In most cases, independent contractors are reclassified as employees and platforms as employers. Regulatory measures are varied, but labor laws are mostly sector-specific (taxi and delivery). Although the specifics of platforms are different and this too needs to be taken into account.
The EU already has a Directive 2024/2831 on improving the working conditions of citizens working through digital platforms. In this context, the event emphasized Moldova’s commitment to implement it in national legislation by December 2026. The Directive introduces a legal presumption of labor relations and sets strict requirements for the protection of workers’ personal data.
The discussion also focused on the development of a future convention of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which is expected to enshrine fundamental rights (social protection, occupational health and safety and the right to association) for workers on digital platforms at the international level.
As Vladislav Caminschi, executive director of the National Confederation of Patronages of Moldova, noted for Logos Press, the business community is sympathetic to the obligations defined under the European directive. Its wishes are only that the introduction of the provisions would not complicate the business activity due to the costs of finalizing the platforms and ensuring the social rights of workers.
The significant increase in the number of jobs on digital platforms adds to the existing complexities not only in terms of labor relations but also tax obligations. But this is a separate topic, and we will return to it.
