Familiar with food dispatchers, the platform economy is slipping into new areas - but the stigma of exploiting its employees will not last long, says Professor
In the autumn, Finland will be working on the board program entry related to the economy of the platform.

Platform workers include, for example, food dispatchers that are often seen in the streets of Helsinki. (PHOTO: SARA AALTIO / HS)
Ines Siren HS
Released: 20.8. 2:00, Updated: 820.8. 8:59


In Finland and elsewhere in Europe, workers in the frontier between self-employed workers and self-employed workers, particularly those in the so-called platform work, have spoken in recent years.

The most prominent platform workers are food dispatchers, but unclear employment relationships are also gaining ground in other service sectors, such as cleaning, says Suvi Vilches, a lawyer at the Service Union (Pam).

"Once such a thing has been invented, why would some players not at least try it in other traditional dueling industries," says Vilches.

Platform work can also be done on site-specific and project-specific expert work, such as coding, translation and design.

“I believe that large companies will increasingly use platform networks as their own resource of expertise,” says Anne Kovalainen, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Turku.

Kovalainen is leading a research project on platform economy, Swipe, which focuses on research into platform economics and different forms of platform work. According to a research report published last year in the project, platform work does not seem to be the main form of future earnings for graduates, but its spread to a wider group of graduates is considered quite possible.

CHALLENGING refers to an operating model where the customer orders things like food, cleaning or translation through a digital platform. The item is again supplied to the customer by a third party.

According to Statistics Finland, in 2017 about 14,000 people acquired at least a quarter of their earnings through platform work.

According to a 2018 Kalevi Sorsa Foundation survey, jobs through platforms were the only source of income in Finland for just under 30,000 people of working age. According to Kovalainen, there is quite a few experts working on platforms, but the number is expected to increase.

INITIAL WORK has been in the headlines, especially because of the problems involved.

The social costs of some of the platform economy companies are not paid at all, or not at all.

For example, in July, the Deliveroo food service in Spain lost its dispute over social security contributions whether it was posted by employees or self-employed.

In Finland, too, court proceedings will sooner or later lead to court action, experts estimate.

"Let's just say that no district court is pending, but the capacity to bring the case to court is there," says Pamin Vilches.

A globally applicable solution, applicable to all initial jobs and more broadly self-employed, can be difficult to come up with, as actors and roles vary.

As a precedent, the court would also have to go from the District Court to the Supreme Court, which could take several years.

“There will certainly be situations where there is clearly an employment relationship and situations where there is clearly an entrepreneurial activity,” says Markus Äimälä, General Counsel at the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).

The question of the worker or the entrepreneur is not new in itself. Boundaries have previously been used, for example, in the field of hairdressing and beauty.

In Äimälä's opinion, the platform work seems to be just an old activity in a new form.

"I'm not saying the discussion is pointless, but it's not a new and wonderful thing."

A new type of business is naturally a good phenomenon from the EK's point of view, but the ambiguities associated with it are “unfortunate”.

For many, platform work can be the easiest way to get into work, Äimälä says.

In addition to Pam and the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), issues related to platform work in Finland have been raised, for example, by the Justice4couriers campaign. The campaign, which lasted about a year, was set up to promote the working conditions of food messengers.

“However, we strive to promote all platform workers,” says campaign activist Matti Mamia.

KOVALAINEN estimates that if some charter companies are labeled as exploiting their employees in the eyes of consumers, they will not last long.

“Consumers who decide to use the services decide what is a good way to treat people who work on platforms. Bad treatment is a reputation risk for a company that global players do not want, ”says Kovalainen.

Since the chassis companies do not hire employees or own the production equipment, the brand and image are extremely important capital for the chassis companies, Kovalainen says.

According to Kovalainen, the reputation risk grew too high in Germany, for example, where Deliveroo, a food courier service, announced on Monday that it would cease operations in the country.

Competition for food courier services in Germany has been fierce. Deliveroo was no longer able to guarantee the "brilliant" quality of its service, the company reported to its customers, according to Bloomberg.

In the worst case, the big cities in Finland will generate platform work that does not rely on them, but no other is available, says Kovalainen.

In his view, this is unlikely to be likely in Finland, as there are few densely populated large cities with high platform utilization.

If the social security issues of platform work can be resolved in a flexible way, platforms can at best offer demanding job opportunities throughout Finland.

“Research shows a positive climate for change. There is no fear of digitalization, and the way platform work is changing as well. ”

How will platform work change in the near future?
It has been recorded in the GOVERNMENT PROGRAM that the needs for legislative changes will be addressed in the context of work change, such as the platform economy. It is also intended to clarify the Employment Contracts Act in such a way as to "prevent the camouflage of an employment contract from being concluded as a non-employment contract".

In the autumn, tripartite employment promotion working groups will prepare the implementation of the Government Program entries.

The novelty and scale of the phenomenon make it difficult to determine the rules of the platform work. The platform economy can provide both car transport and care services, but also short-term rental homes and flea market goods.

“At the moment, when it comes to platform economy, we define a moving object that is also changing all the time. We have only seen a glimpse of the new economy, ”says Professor Kovalainen from the University of Turku.

New means would also be needed by the authorities. Aki Eriksson, a labor protection lawyer at the Regional Office for Labor Protection (AVI), describes the area as "exceptionally lively" and the case law used to be rigid.

It seems typical of platform work that the limits of legislation are tested, says Eriksson.

"Contract documents may be something one day, and when the actors develop a business model, six months or a year from now they are different," says Eriksson.

According to Eriksson, platform work interviews for occupational safety and health are often linked to social security.

For example, a person seeking a certificate of employment or payroll for a teleservice may not have realized that he or she is not an employee and not required to provide such papers.

According to Eriksson, there are "a few annual issues" for the labor protection authority regarding platform work.

However, Eriksson speculates that some of the chassis workers may not have even been able to ask the occupational safety and health authority for their position.