Online Platforms and Platform Work Italy Legally binding definition of online platforms Specific register of online platforms Specific regulation applicable to online platforms Online platforms are considered to be employers Based on the Legislative Decree of 2015 (amended in 2019), digital platforms are deemed to be computer programs and procedures of companies that, regardless of the place of establishment, organise activities involving the delivery of goods, while fixing the price and determining the mode ‘of execution of the service”. Italian workers have access to more than 100 online labour platforms. The operations of global platforms doing business in Italy has significantly increased in the last couple of years. The number of workers is estimated at between 700,000 and 1 million according to research carried out by Fondazione Rodolfo DeBenedetti in 2018. For example, the food-delivery sector has been dominated by five international platforms: Deliveroo, Glovo, Foodora, Uber Eats and Takeaway.com.

In 2018, several platforms active in the delivery sector signed a voluntary agreement in Bologna(MyMenu/Sgnam, Domino’s Pizza and Winelivery). Based on the Bologna ‘Charter of fundamental rights of digital labour in the urban context’ irrespectively of employment status, all workers are protected against discrimination, have a right to the transparent use of data as well as 10 hours of paid assembly, full union rights and the minimum wage in the particular sector. The Charter is structured in four Chapters covering general provisions, the right to be informed, the right to protection- including to a fair wage, health and safety, protection of personal data, and the right to disconnect – and support from the public administration. The charter is not binding and only those who sign it – on a voluntary basis- must observe it. In 2020, the Italian trade union confederations- CGIL, CISL, UIL- and Just Eat signed another agreement covering workers, with provisions being laid down in the Logistics National Collective Bargaining Agreement. Food-delivery riders working for Just Eat will now have access to a fair wage and possess labour rights, as well as receive social, health and safety protection. In 2019, the Lazio region adopted legislation covering all digital platform workers, laying down access to training, the obligation to provide health and safety equipment and compensation for the maintenance costs thereof, a prohibition of‘pay per task’ and an obligation to provide OHS insurance. In 2018 the Turin Employment Tribunal ruled in favour of Foodora, holding that“riders” were completely free to accept or refuse any meal delivery requests from the platform, and therefore fit within the category of freelance, not subordinate employment. In 2020, a Glovo worker who was disconnected was recognised as an employee. In 2021, the Court of Bologna recognised Deliveroo platform workers as employees in a case where the Deliveroo platform unfairly dismissed a unionised worker based on a Deliveroo algorithm. FES Competence Centre on the Future of Work – January 2023 Background research conducted by Dr. Marco Marrone, University of Venice Graphic Design: Galadriel GV