In her book "Platform Workers and Self-Employed in Swedish Law," Annamaria Westregård, a researcher in commercial law, observes that:
“There are many issues here, and people are falling through the cracks. In certain contexts and by some authorities, platform workers have been treated as employees, while others see them as self-employed. What I attempt to do in the book is clarify the categorization, understand the problems, and hopefully, it can serve as a useful basis when the directive is to be implemented.”
The Swedish criticism of the platform directive has largely focused on the notion that platform workers are presumed to be employees. Concerns have been raised from both political and labor market sides that the directive could undermine the concept of employment, collective agreements, and the entire labor negotiation model.
Gig and platform work have existed in various forms for a long time. Posting a note on the supermarket bulletin board offering dog walking or lawn mowing services was gig work, but so small-scale that it didn’t make much difference. With technological advances, platforms emerged that allowed a small ad to reach an enormous number of customers, and the gigs can now cover a wide range of areas. As turnover increases and more people are affected, it becomes interesting for politicians, labor market parties, and lawyers to examine this way of working.
The EU directive focuses on labor law, and Annamaria Westregård predicts that Sweden will adopt the narrowest possible approach to its implementation.
“Yes, given the criticism, I think that will be the case. Moreover, the issues surrounding platform work extend over many other areas of law such as occupational health and safety law, tax law, unemployment benefits, sickness and parental insurance, among others.”, says Annamaria in closing.