Towards ‘bogus employment?’ The contradictory outcomes of ride-hailing regulation in Berlin, Lisbon and Paris

Abstract

The issue of employment classification has been central in the politics around the platform economy. Crucial has been the phenomenon of ‘bogus self-employment’, whereby workers in de facto dependent employment relationships conduct services as independent contractors. Legislators around the world have aimed to tackle this issue by obliging platforms to classify their workers as employees. Based on empirical research in the ride-hailing industry of Berlin, Paris and Lisbon, where such classification exists already, we highlight its contradictory outcomes. We argue that platform companies have managed to introduce forms of ‘bogus employment’ whereby even formally employed workers lack basic worker rights.