Protecting the labour and social protection rights of platform workers in a multi-layered welfare state: Lessons from legislative innovation and reforms in Belgium

Abstract

Across the EU, concerns are rising over digital platform workers’ access to labour and social protection rights, as well as the impact of platform work on the welfare state. In response, governments, social partners, and other stakeholders have initiated both top-down and bottom-up responses. This article presents a comprehensive review of the regulatory framework on platform work in Belgium from a multilevel governance perspective. Belgium was one of the first EU Member States to introduce legislation directly targeting platform work and, more recently, also one of the first to update its regulatory framework to account for concerns about bogus self-employment and platform workers’ access and ability to enjoy labour rights and social protection. Building on desk research and stakeholder consultations, this article reviews the implications of the government’s regulatory efforts and responses to them by other actors, focussing on the case of labour market (re)integration and the linkages with the concept and practice of the welfare state. The analysis reveals that despite the efforts to fill regulatory gaps and to support workers in navigating the patchwork of legislation, knowledge of platform work remains limited among key labour market actors, including employment administrations and organisations engaging with vulnerable groups. As a result, platform work’s pitfalls, and its consequences for workers’ labour and social protection rights, are underrated.