Platform work: ILO Convention 193 and the EU directive

In June 2026 the International Labour Conference adopted the first convention devoted to work in the digital platform economy, Convention No. 193 of the International Labour Organization (ILO). In the European Union, meanwhile, the 2 December 2026 deadline for transposing Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on platform work is approaching. This contribution gathers the main references of the two instruments, without any claim to completeness.

The 114th Session of the International Labour Conference

The 114th Session of the International Labour Conference was held in Geneva from 1 to 12 June 2026, attended by more than 5,700 delegates representing the governments and the employers’ and workers’ organizations of the 187 ILO Member States. The session concluded with the adoption of the Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy (C193), the first international labour standard addressed to people who earn their living through digital labour platforms.

In his closing address, ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo linked the outcome to his report to the Conference, entitled “A Moment of Choice: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Decent Work”, which calls for international cooperation so that the benefits of artificial intelligence are widely shared and the technological transformation follows a human-centred approach. The same session also adopted a resolution with conclusions on gender equality in the world of work and a resolution with conclusions on social dialogue and tripartism. On 7 August 2026 the ILO returned to the subject with an episode of its “The Future of Work” series on how the new standard can be put into practice.

The contents of Convention No. 193

The Convention calls on Member States to ensure that people working through digital platforms enjoy fundamental rights at work: freedom of association and collective bargaining, protection from discrimination, child labour and forced labour, and the right to a safe and healthy working environment. A distinctive element is the extension of protections that earlier conventions reserved for employees to those working outside an employment relationship, in particular in the areas of occupational safety and health and of employment termination or account deactivation.

The text also encourages States to extend adequate remuneration or payment to all platform workers, including those who are not in an employment relationship, and addresses protection against violence and harassment as well as the protection of workers’ personal data and privacy. The new standard applies to all digital labour platforms and extends key protections to all platform workers, regardless of how their employment status is classified under national law.

Automated systems and algorithmic management

A specific part of the Convention concerns the responsible use of the automated systems and algorithms that assign tasks, monitor performance and evaluate results. The text establishes safeguards that include transparency requirements and access to mechanisms for reviewing decisions. The subject connects to the broader debate on the impact of artificial intelligence on the world of work, addressed in the Director-General’s report mentioned above and in the ILO Observatory on AI and Work in the Digital Economy.

The European directive on platform work

In European Union law the reference is Directive (EU) 2024/2831 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on improving working conditions in platform work. The directive introduces, among other things, a legal presumption of an employment relationship where elements of direction and control are present, and rules on algorithmic management, from the transparency of automated decision-making systems to human oversight of decisions affecting workers.

Member States must adopt the measures necessary to comply with the directive by 2 December 2026. For contractual relationships entered into before that date and still ongoing, the legal presumption applies only from that same date. In Italy the transposition process is under way: the draft legislative decree, given preliminary examination by the Council of Ministers in July 2026, is undergoing parliamentary scrutiny, as documented by the dossier of the Research Service of the Chamber of Deputies.

Prospects

Convention No. 193 is now open for ratification by ILO Member States, and its entry into force will follow the registration of ratifications in accordance with the final clauses of the instrument. In the European Union the deadline for transposing Directive (EU) 2024/2831 is set at 2 December 2026, and in Italy the path of the implementing legislative decree is in progress. What remains to be defined, in each legal system, is how the rules on the presumption of employment, algorithmic management and extended protections will be applied in practice by the platforms.

In dialogue with the 2030 Agenda

Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Convention No. 193 and the European directive act on the rights, remuneration and conditions of those working through digital platforms, a growing segment of the labour market.
Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Extending protections to those working outside an employment relationship narrows the protection gaps between categories of workers.
Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). Both instruments are the outcome of institutional processes and of tripartite social dialogue between governments, employers and workers.