PLATFORMSKI RAD I STVARANjE „TREĆE KATEGORIJE“ RADNIKA

Abstract

Digitalization is a concept that marks the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. Positive law has not yet sufficiently kept pace with changes in the economy, although significant progress has been made, particularly in the normative regulation of new forms of employment. Digitalization has given rise to platform work, which alters or introduces new applications of traditional concepts and relationships between employers and employees. The emergence of digital platforms has led to the creation of a new term, "user," with employees and employers alternating in the role of "platform user," and the "platform" acting both as a "mediator" and as an "employer." Platform work, as a new social and economic phenomenon, has become primarily a legal phenomenon for which labor legislation is just beginning to develop regulations. The European Union Directive on Improving Working Conditions for Platform Workers represents a breakthrough in regulating the labor legal status of platform workers and will prevent further labor-legal degradation, social insecurity, economic subordination, and exploitation. It is expected that the established presumption of an employment relationship will lead to a significant number of workers transitioning from self-employed status to employed status. Given that the Republic of Serbia is in the process of European integration and that platform work constitutes a significant part of the economy, it is of utmost importance to swiftly address the clear regulation of the status of individuals working through digital platforms. The proposed European Union Directive on Improving Working Conditions for Platform Workers should serve as a starting point for such regulation.