Reader opinion The discussion on food broadcasts is just the prelude

Opinion|Reader’s opinion

Southern Finland Wolt’s ambassadors that Wolt’s envoys are employed and not self-employed was a new chapter in the debate on platform workers. instead of. Even ownership changing the question of the status of platform workers and the fairness of their practices remains.

Wolt’s decision to take the matter to administrative court shows the company’s confidence in its own model and the fact that views on the characteristics of the employment relationship are not uniform. Last year, the policy of the Labor Council under the Ministry of Employment and the Economy was not unanimous on the matter either, but the representatives of the employer side submitted a dissenting opinion on the matter.

Wolt justifies his model by saying that the delegate decides for himself when to work. The sender can accept and reject the gigs offered. He works with his own tools and is free to work for other companies. According to Wolt, the current model allows for little control over work, which would increase significantly in the employment relationship.

In the world, other job placement companies have also come into conflict with legislation. What matters seems to be the question of what kind of job management is fair when doing work as a self-employed person. Often on digital platforms, data is collected on, for example, gig performance rates, routes and customer reviews. In addition to data collection, there are differences in how this data is used to manage work.

On some platforms, performance data collected may affect the platform company’s internal rankings, which determine who gets the gigs or shifts first. Poor averages of customer reviews can lead to exclusion from platforms and sanctions for refusing gigs. The data can be used to direct gigs to the most suitable actors, monitor work performance and determine the rewards to be received from them.

I think the Wolt case is just the prelude to a debate on fair play. There are also numerous job platform companies in Finland, many of which do not appear in the public debate. Some restrict them as entrepreneurs, some less, some rather support them. The situation is very different on expert platforms than on transport platforms. When making guidelines, it would be important to create an overall picture of the platform work and to consult those who work on the platform work in particular.

Jere Immonen

researcher, National Institute of Occupational Health

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