Five of the largest platform companies offer their employees poor to very poor working conditions, according to a new study by Fairwork Belgium that was released on Thursday.
The study, conducted by the Catholic University of Leuven’s Centre for Sociological Research, revealed violations of minimum wage laws, unclear contracts, and a lack of access to collective representation.
The analysis covered platforms such as Takeaway, Ring Twice, Deliveroo, Yoopies, and Top Help.
These platforms were assessed using five parameters for fair work : fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management, and fair representation. The maximum score for each parameter was two points.
Takeaway scored the highest: 6 out of 10. Ring Twice, formerly known as ListMinut and offering domestic services, came second with 4 out of 10. Deliveroo scored 1 out of 10, while Yoopies and Top Help, both of which provide domestic and care services, did not score any points.
On the ‘fair pay’ parameter, only Takeaway and Ring Twice scored points.
Takeaway was the only platform that demonstrated protection against occupational risks (‘fair conditions’ parameter).
Deliveroo, Ring Twice, and Takeaway showed that they offer fair contracts, while only Ring Twice and Takeaway demonstrated that decisions regarding employees follow proper procedures.
No platform met the criteria for ‘fair representation’. This means that Belgian platform workers cannot use institutional channels to influence decisions that affect their jobs.
The study highlighted that care platforms like Yoopies and Top Help scored the worst in terms of working conditions. “Care platforms tend to ignore existing regulations, thus promoting informal work,” said sociology professor Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven). “As a result, workers consistently perform unpaid work in the form of unguaranteed minimum wages and lack of social security.”
European Parliament member Marc Botenga (PVDA/PTB) said he was “unfortunately not surprised” by the findings.
The EU currently has legislation in the pipeline aimed at better protecting platform workers. Botenga suggested that the new European directive could have a significant impact. “Particularly regarding working conditions, though there remains more work to be done on wages.”
This is the first time Fairwork, an international project researching labour conditions, has published a report on Belgium. The goal is to carry out an analysis each year from now on.
