as a manifestation of a new form of employment in the

The aim of this paper is to analyse a new form of employment which has appeared in the Polish labour market in recent years, i.e. work via digital platforms. The author discusses the issue of platform work in the context of its impact on the current labour market. Particular attention is paid to the identification of threats connected with this new form of employment, the demands of the European and Polish trade unions put forward in relation to platform workers and the regulations planned in this field at the EU level. The author also shares his reflections on the practices applied by the owners of digital platforms and the effective method of their control by Member States.


Source and notion of platform work
The21stcenturyhasbroughttotheworldanewstageofproduction and exploitation, known as the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0.The fourth industrial revolution refers by its name to the three previous industrial revolutions, and its principles are based primarilyonthelastofthese.However,itisdistinguishedbythefact thatitischaracterisedbymuchfasterprogressinallareasoftheeconomy than the third industrial revolution.Faster economic progress is achievedthroughtheuseofappropriateITtechniquesandtechnology fusions, resulting in a blurring of the boundaries between the digital, physical, and biological spheres 1 .Inherent element in Industry 4.0 is theall-encompassingdigitalisationandautomation,appliedprimarily Tomasz Mirosławski s.2z16 toenterprisesthroughtheintroductionofnewITsystemsbasedonthe operation of artificial intelligence and the analysis of huge groups of data (so-called Big Data), often taking place without any restrictions orregulations.
It is clear that such profound changes in the economic field have a direct impact on all its elements, and above all on the main onethe world of labour.Hence, the notion of work of the future, meaningworkintheageofthefourthindustrialrevolution,isincreasingly emerginginthediscussionconcerningtheseparticularchanges.From a macroeconomic perspective, the work of the future was explored in the World Economic Forum's 2020 report, along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment of work.The report indicates that in the coming years, a quarter of employers expect a temporaryreductioninemploymentandone-fifthexpectapermanent reduction 2 .On the other hand, this phenomenon should be counterbalancedbythecreationofnewjobs,forwhich,however,completely differentcompetenceswillbeneededthanforthosethatarebeginning to disappear due to automation.For large groups of employees these phenomena entail with necessity of working in new "places", under much worse conditions than before.One such new "place" is digitalplatforms,onwhich,becauseofthegrowingemploymentthrough themandtheimpactonlabourandemploymentrelations,Iwillfocus laterinthisarticle.
Platform work belongs to a broader group of issues called alternative forms of employment 3 .It consists of an employee 4 performing services for his/her employer's client via digital platforms (online 2 WorldEconomicForum:The Future Jobs Report 2020 -October 2020.Geneva2020,p.13.   3   InstytutAnalizRynkuPracy:Alternatywne formy pracy.Warszawa2020,pp.11-13. 4 Forthepurposesofthispaper,Iwillusetheterm"employee"torefertoaperson performingplatformwork,butitshouldbenotedthatsuchapersonisnotanemploy-eewithinthemeaningofthePolishLabourCode.Inrelationtoapersonworkingvia digitalplatforms,accordingtothecurrentregulations,theterm"worker"seemstobe moreadequate,althoughthePolishliteratureonthesubjectofplatformworkusesthe traditionalphrase"employee"farmoreoften.Thisispartlyduetotheproblemoftranslationofforeignpublications,butitisalsohighlyrelevantinthecontextoftheproposed changes in the regulation of platform work and its association with the employment relationshipdefinedinthePolishLabourCode.Ithereforeconsideritjustifiedtousethe term"employee"todescribepersonswhoperformplatformwork. Platform work as a manifestation of a new form… s.3z16 platforms and mobile applications) 5 .In different EU Member States, thesamephenomenonisdefinedindifferentways,e.g.sharingeconomy, platform economy, gig economy, crowd economy, on-demand economy, peer to peer economy, freelancing, collaborative economy6 .Eurofounddefinesplatformworkasaformofemploymentthatuses a platform to allow organisations or individuals to access other organisations or individuals to solve specific problems or provide relevant services in return for payment, and distinguishes its key features, which are follows: 1. paid work organised by platforms; 2. the involvement of three parties (platform, client, employee); 3. the purposeoftheworkistoperformspecifictasksorsolvespecificproblems; 4. it is a form of outsourcing; 5. division of "work" into individual "tasks";6.on-demandservice7.Onthebasisofthedefinitiongiven,it can be concluded that the principle of the platform labour market is tomatchproviderswithconsumersbymeansofdigitalplatforms.The customer, using the relevant platform, sends a request (on-demand element) for a specific service, the platform searches for a potential provider,whointurnispaidforcompletionofthetask.Inthismodel of platform work, employees most often enter into formal contracts withemployers(platform-owningcompanies)operatinginthemarket toprovideon-demandservices8 .
Platformworkiscarriedoutonthebasisofvariouslegalrelationships, but according to EC 9 data the predominant relationship within thistypeofworkisself-employment(28millionplatformworkersare Tomasz Mirosławski s.4z16 self-employed, of which for 5.5 million it is probably the wrong relationship10 ).Platform owners often try to create an image of platform workasakindoffreelancing11 ,whichisintendedtojustifyaformof employmentintheformofabusiness-to-business(B2B)contract.However,thesetwomodelsofworkdifferincertaincharacteristics.Firstly, underplatformwork,companieschargeemployeeswithcommissions for the opportunity to provide services via digital platforms (usually in the form of a flat percentage rate), whereas freelancers work independentlyontheirownaccount,withnoworkrulesimposedonthem, and collect the entire salary.Secondly, unlike freelancers, who create theirownbrand,inthecaseofplatformworkitistheplatformowners who control the brand and decide on the selection of employees.Thirdly, on-demand companies control the relationship between the provider and the client, through appropriate clauses prohibiting the provider from having private contacts or entering into contracts with theclient,thuspreventingtheserviceproviderfrombuildingitsown customer base, which is a rather common practice in the case of the self-employment/freelancing.S. Zuboff, writing about modern companies based on platform organisation, compares them to swarms in which structure is interconnected and the network has replaced the traditional organisational hierarchy12 .

The impact of the platform work phenomenon on the labour market
The main mechanisms at work with digital platforms are the processingoflargeamountsofdataandthegeolocationfunctionavailable on a mobile phone or computer.Through these, the platform is able to match the demand for a given service with its supply.The cost of theserviceprovidedisdeterminedbyanalgorithm,whichworksac-Platform work as a manifestation of a new form… s.5z16 cordingtothefollowingprinciple:thelowerthedemandis,thelower theserviceispricedandvice versa,thehigherthedemandis,theprice of the service will increase.The cost of the service also includes the commissionpayabletotheowneroftheplatformforenablingtheconnectionbetweentheorderingpartyandtheemployee(contractor).Algorithms also take other factors into account when setting the price, suchastheworker'soverallratingontheapplication.
Thewaythealgorithmsworkinsidetheplatformisnottransparent to either the contracting authorities or the contractors.Employees do notreallyknowwhatexactlytheirsalarydependson,whichcanfluctuatedrasticallydependingonthefactorsanalysedbythealgorithms.Thisinturndirectlyrestrictsorevenpreventsemployeesfrominitiatingnegotiationsontheamountofremuneration 13 .
The literature points out that platforms and, above all, the algorithms that manage platform workers are based on the assumptions of one of the strands of psychology, namely behaviourism.Platform usersaretreatedasascientificobject,whoseeveryactivityiscarefully monitored.Knowing a sufficiently large amount of input and output data allows applications to predict certain employee behaviours and setindicatorsinawaytoachievemaximaleffect 14 .Anexampleofthis type of employee "motivation" is the Uber Eats platform, which in Warsawchargessuppliersthehighestfeeforusingtheappcompared to other, smaller cities, resulting in fact that Warsaw couriers have to spend from 11 to 13 hours a day working in order to achieve the intended income 15 .From the algorithmic point of view, the procedure ofincreasingthe"platformfee"islogical.Highdemandimplieshigh prices for the service.The application, wanting to maintain an adequatelevelofsupply,mustsomehow"encourage"employeestowork, inthiscasebyloweringtheirwages.Ontheotherhand,fromtheemployees' point of view, such solutions cause that "working through platforms is looking less and less like work and more like a modern form of slavery, condemning people to separation from their families 13 A.Rogalewski:Cyfryzacja i praca platformowa -informator dla pracowników.War-szawa2020,p.22.

s.6z16
and reducing suppliers to the role of labourers who spend most of theirtimetoearnsomereasonablyfairmoney" 16 .

Platform work as a manifestation of a new form…
s.7z16 the labour market 22 .Moreover, the arguments of employing entities indicatingthatdigitalplatformsonlyplaytheroleofanintermediary tool are not true, since, as Ch.Gerber and M. Krzywdziński prove in their work, they resemble employers rather than neutral intermediaries 23 .Platforms transform customer orders into work processes, coordinatetasks,organisequalitycontrol,definecommunicationchannels anddeterminepaymentmethods 24 .
Platform work also poses a serious challenge for trade unions, as well as employees themselves, in terms of the implementation of the fundamental labour right to organise and other related rights, such as therighttostrike.Despitethefactthat,asaresultofchangestocollectivelabourlaw,ithasbeenpossiblesinceJanuary2019forvirtuallyall persons performing platform work to associate, to that date no trade unionorganisationhasbeenestablishedforemployeesperformingthis typeofwork.Ontheonehand,thisisduetotheweakpositionoftrade unionsinthePolishlabourmarket,butontheotherhand,theindicated state of affairs is strongly influenced by the current operational model ofdigitalplatforms.Whileperformingtheirtasks,platformworkersare significantly restricted in their ability to contact other colleagues, and their admittance to work depends solely on the algorithms controlling theapplication.Lastyeartherewasthefirststrikeofplatformworkers inPoland,undertakenbyGlovo'scouriersfromBiałystok.Thestrikewas motivatedbychangesinthemethodsofdistributingordersandwages, whichwerenotconsultedwithemployees.Thecorporation,inresponse totheemployees'actions,didnotengageinanyconversationwiththe strikers, but decided to immediately block them from continuing their workthroughtheapplication 25 .Thisincident,andthecompany'ssubsequentresponse,clearlyillustratesthethreatthattheunrestricteddevelopmentoftheplatformeconomycanposetoworkers'rights.

The demands of the employees' side regarding platform work
AccordingtoanILOreportontheimpactofplatformworkonthe labour market, the amount of employment through digital platforms intheEuropeanUnionisestimatedtobebetween10-11%ofadultEU citizens 31 .However,thispercentagewillincreaseovertime.Hence,in 29 M.Raczkowski:Bezpieczne i higieniczne warunki pracy w zatrudnieniu cywilnoprawnym."PiZS"2019(1)the debate on platform work there are more and more demands and voicescallingfortheregulationofthisphenomenon.
TheETUCalsoadvocatesforthenecessityofthepublicauthorities to take action to regulate labour platforms.Above all, public authorities should ensure that labour law and minimum wage regulations are respected, in accordance with national laws and practices; guaranteefairworkingconditions;provideinformationontaxobligations and facilitate access to social protection; recognise the presumption of employer and employee status, in order to limit self-employment; guarantee the right to organise and negotiate collective agreements; introducecompulsorythird-partyliabilityinsurance;monitorthealgorithms of digital platforms; and prohibit exclusivity clauses that preventemployeesfromworkingviaotherplatforms.
In its programme of action for 2019-2023, the ETUC calls for the launch of work on a Europe-wide initiative to equalise the status of platformworkersandthestandardemployees,byprovidingplatform workerswiththesametermsandconditionsofemploymentasstandardemployees,extendingsocialprotection,minimumwagestandards andguaranteeingtherighttoanemployee-employerrelationship.Furthermore,theETUCtakesthepositionthatthereisaneedtoguarantee humancontroloverartificialintelligence 33 .
In Poland, the number of platform workers who have provided this work at least once in their lives is not high, at around 11% of the total workforce, which is in line with the EU average 34 .However, as in the caseofotherMemberStates,thispercentagewillgraduallyincrease.The "OPZZ" (Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie Związków Zawodowych) tradeunion,initsprogrammeofactionfor2018-2022,draws attention to both positive and negative aspects of digitalisationrelatedchanges.Thetradeunionpointsoutthatthereisaneed to implement such legal solutions which, on the one hand, will protect the employee from the negative effects of digitalisation and,ontheotherhand,willcontroltheseprocesses.Suchregulations could consist of recognising various platforms such as Uber orAirbnb as employers and the people working for them as employees; guaranteeing the right to switch off e-mail, businessphonesorothermeansofcorrespondenceintheworkplace afterworkinghours;limitingtheuseofcamerasorothermeans ofrecordinganemployee'sactivitiesintheworkplace 35 .
TheOPZZandNSZZSolidarność,similarlytotheETUC,advocate fortheneedoftheEUtoendeavourtoprovideplatformworkerswith equivalentworkingconditionswiththoseofstandardemployeesand to protect employees who will lose their jobs as a result of digitalisationandautomation 36 .
• requiring the person performing platform work to respect specific binding rules with regard to appearance, conduct towards the recipientoftheserviceorperformanceofthework; • supervisingtheperformanceofworkorverifyingthequalityofthe resultsoftheworkincludingbyelectronicmeans; • effectively restricting the freedom, including through sanctions, to organise one's work, in particular the discretion to choose one's workinghoursorperiodsofabsence,toacceptortorefusetasksor tousesubcontractorsorsubstitutes; • effectivelyrestrictingthepossibilitytobuildaclientbaseortoperformworkforanythirdparty.
Iftheplatformfulfilsatleasttwoofthesecriteria,theexistingcontractors will automatically be reclassified as employees, regardless of their contractual provisions.The judicial path will be appropriate to resolveanydoubts,andtheburdenofproofthatanemploymentrelationshipdoesnotexistbetweentheplatformandtheserviceprovider willliewiththeplatform.
The proposal also intends to increase the transparency of the algorithmsthatcontroltheplatformanddetermineworkingconditions,by requiringplatformstoprovidecontractorswithfairanddetailedinformationabouttheseconditionsonatleastthefirstdayofwork.TheEC wantstoprohibittheprocessingofpersonaldataofplatformemployees, other than those which are directly related to the digital platform and necessary for the performance of the contract between the contractor and the platform.In addition, the draft includes regulations allowing employees to use communication channels that are not supervised by theemployer 38 .Theadoptionofthedirectivewouldbeasignificantstep forwardinadjustinglabourlawtothechangesthatthefourthindustrial revolution entails.On the other hand, the draft itself may be a good starting point for the Polish legislator to regulate the functioning and developmentofdigitalplatformsfasterthanattheEUlevel.
AnotherEUbodythatreactedtothegrowingphenomenonofwork-ingviadigitalplatformswastheEuropeanParliament.On16September 2021, Members of the European Parliament adopted a resolution on fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform 38  workers -new forms of employment linked to digital development, in which they pointed out the need to establish a presumption of an employment relationship for this type of work, to provide accident insurance for platform workers, to increase the transparency of the algorithms controlling the platform and to guarantee platform workerstherighttoorganiseandcollectivebargaining 39 .TheEPresolution, despite its non-binding and merely postulatory character, should be considered as an important symbol in the fight for the rights of platformworkers.

Conclusion
Theemergenceofplatformworkisoneoftheoutcomesofthecurrent phase of global economy, the fourth industrial revolution.As a new and still developing phenomenon with strongly heterogeneous nature, platform work has not yet been thoroughly studied.Initially, great hopes were connected with it.The main expectations were the creation of new jobs and the possibility to meet customers' needs in a more convenient and quicker way.However, after some time, this phenomenonhasbecomeasourceofgreaterdangerthanbenefit.The negativeimpactofthisformofworkonthelabourmarkethasledto anincreasingnumberofvoicessupportingtheregulationofplatform work.In Spain, in 2020 Supreme Court ruled that Glovo couriers are not self-employed entrepreneurs, but employees.The UK Supreme Courtmadeasimilarruling,inrelationtodriversemployedbyUber andrejectedthecorporation'sargumentthattheplatformwasmerely anintermediarybetweencustomersanddrivers 40 .AttheEuropeanUnionlevel,workonregulatingthephenomenonofplatformworkingis beingcarriedoutbytheEuropeanCommission.

Tomasz Mirosławski
s.14z16 mechanisms in the technological sphere.The national authorities of the Member States responsible for supervision and control of labour should have access to appropriate control software, which will make it possible to verify the correctness and principle of operation of the platform algorithms directly and within a short period of time.The implementation of such mechanisms would be the realisation of the demandspresentedinthePolishCharterofDigitalSovereignty 41 and raisedbyPolishandEuropeantradeunions.