‘It’s an easy way to get money, they don’t require much paperwork when you sign up’, Maria was told by a friend upon her arrival in a European capital. ‘Way easier than working for these rip-off companies that send you around the city to office buildings without you being able to decide if you want to do it and when you want to do it. Plus you don’t even have to speak the local language.’[1]

***

SET UP PROFILE.

SET UP ESTIMATED WORK HOURS.

SET UP PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE.
SET UP QUALIFICATIONS AND LANGUAGE SKILLS.

SET UP BANK DETAILS AND PAYMENT METHOD.

SET UP PERSONAL PHOTO.

AGREE TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

***

‘Right’, Maria replied, ‘that sounds good. Any downsides to it?’ – ‘Hmm. They say they’re merely a marketplace. Like the yellow pages. You’ll have to get your own cleaning material and bring it to the customer. Their insurance is capped at 2,000 Euros. So, if you cause any damage beyond that, you are not covered. Be careful when cleaning. And, yeah, they take a commission.’ ***

***

VIEW WORK OPTIONS.

ACCEPT WORK OFFER.

DECLINE WORK OFFER.

GO TO SUPPORT PAGE.

***

‘What if’, Maria asked her friend, ‘I don’t want to pay commission? What if I just contact the client outside of the platform? Will they know about it?’

‘Do it, but don’t tell them. We all do it. We don’t need the platform. But be careful, I encountered some creepy clients. The platform always prefers the client. That is how they make money. In their eyes, we are replaceable – the clients are not.’

***

Like Maria and her friend, there are many domestic workers around the world engaged in platform work. Fairwork’s research in a number of countries shows, however, that the promise of fair working conditions is rarely met by platforms. Platform workers may encounter a number of risks in the course of their work, including accidents and injuries, assaults by clients in their private space, harmful materials, and crime and violence. From our perspective, platforms must show that they are aware of these task-specific risks, and take steps to mitigate them.

Beyond minimising risks that workers may face to their health and safety in the course of their work, platforms have the ability to proactively improve health and safety and working conditions. This may be through the provision of training, wellbeing initiatives, health insurance, and other measures. This means a policy that goes beyond ameliorating the direct task-specific risks by promoting greater health and safety or improvements in working conditions, beyond what is specified by local regulations for employment.