İş hukukunda platform çalışması ve platform çalışanları

Abstract

The widespread use of the internet and the rapid advancement of digitaltechnologies have significantly transformed the spatial, temporal, and organizationalboundaries traditionally associated with employment relations. Consequently, labour,production, and employment structures have undergone a profound transformation. Inrecent years, the platform economy—one of the central drivers of thistransformation—has redefined service delivery through digital intermediaries andreshaped economic activity by creating multi-sided interaction environments. Inparallel with the expansion of the platform economy, platform work has become oneof the most debated areas of contemporary labour markets due to its global prevalenceand its introduction of new dynamics into employment relations.While platform work offers advantages such as flexibility, broad marketaccess, and low entry costs, it also gives rise to significant structural challenges,including precariousness, uncertainty, income instability, risks of discrimination,occupational health and safety concerns, and difficulties in collective organization.Platform companies’ self-identification as mere “intermediaries” and theirclassification of workers as “independent contractors” necessitate a reassessment ofthe elements of the employment contract, particularly the element of subordination,within the platform context. Moreover, algorithmic rating systems, automateddecision-making processes, data-driven work organization, and platform-based controlmechanisms render the determination of platform workers’ legal status increasinglycomplex. In this context, the present study aims to examine the concepts of platformeconomy and platform work, as well as the legal status of platform workers andoccupational health and safety issues in platform work, taking into accountinternational regulations and comparative legal approaches.