November 12, 2025

Equidem has joined civil society allies in submitting detailed comments to the ILO on the draft Convention and Recommendation on decent work in the platform economy (Brown Report).

We welcome the Committee’s decision to move forward with binding standards but the current draft leaves too many gaps.

We urge the adoption of a robust Convention and Recommendation that:

• Covers all platform workers, regardless of contractual form, and recognises platforms’ role in organising work;
• Establishes a legal presumption of employment to combat misclassification;
• Introduces joint and several liability across intermediaries;
• Places direct, binding obligations on platforms for transparency, fair remuneration (including waiting time), occupational health and safety, data rights, and grievance systems;
• Secures freedom of association and collective bargaining, including protection from algorithmic retaliation;
• Guarantees equal protection for women, migrants, and refugee workers; and
• Ensures effective dispute resolution and enforcement, including access to courts and remedies, with no forced arbitration.

Without these changes, the Convention risks entrenching exploitative business models instead of regulating them.

Read our full statement here.