De Stefano, Valerio; Aloisi, Antonio --- "Fundamental labour rights, platform work and human rights protection of non-standard workers" [2019] ELECD 1611; in Bellace, R. Janice; ter Haar, Beryl (eds), "Research Handbook on Labour, Business and Human Rights Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 359

Book Title: Research Handbook on Labour, Business and Human Rights Law

Editor(s): Bellace, R. Janice; ter Haar, Beryl

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 19

Section Title: Fundamental labour rights, platform work and human rights protection of non-standard workers

Author(s): De Stefano, Valerio; Aloisi, Antonio

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

The spread of non-standard forms of employment has prompted an extensive debate on how to reshape labour regulation to accommodate these new formats. Platform workers, together with casual workers and some self-employed workers, not only are more exposed to violations of fundamental labour rights but are also often excluded from the legal scope of application of these rights, sometimes reserved to workers in an employment relationship. This is particularly true for collective labour rights; self-employed workers are often deprived of full access to the rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining, since their collective activities may be considered in breach of anti-trust regulation. Accordingly, this chapter maintains that preventing self-employed workers who do not own a genuine and significant business organisation from bargaining collectively is at odds with the recognition of the right to collective bargaining as a human and a fundamental right. Consequently, only self-employed individuals who do not provide ‘labour’ but services using an independent, genuine and significant business organisation should have their right to bargain collectively restricted.