What the new Convention on Decent Work in the Platform Economy means for workers – and what’s next for implementation

What Convention C193 means for platform workers

On 12 June 2026, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted Convention C193 on Decent Work in the Platform Economy. This is a landmark piece of legislation as the first global legally binding instrument regulating the platform economy and addressing the impact of technology on the world of work.

The Convention represents a significant step forward for workers’ rights around the globe. It reflects the growing consensus that digital platform workers need more adequate protection from abusive and exploitative employment practices. It also reflects the need to regulate the use of automated decision-making (ADM) in the workplace affecting platform workers, an issue Privacy International has developed a set of recommendations on.

Covering similar ground to the EU’s Platform Work Directive, the Convention contains provisions on: fairer compensation, extension of access to certain social protections, the right to collective bargaining, improved occupational health and safety standards, and data protection rights to access, rectify and erase their personal data.

Crucially, the Convention recognises the need for greater transparency in algorithmic management. Section X requires companies to inform workers about the use of automated systems in monitoring their performance, allocating tasks and making decisions affecting their work and access to work. It also gives workers the right to request written explanations of significant automated decisions, as well as request review of decisions that negatively impact them. While more is needed, this sets a new global standard and expectation, codifying the reality that platform workers are indeed workers – rather than merely contractors with platforms as the intermediaries.

Gaps to address with automated decision-making and workers’ rights

The next step is ensuring that governments properly implement and adequately enforce the Convention. While the Convention provides historical gains for workers, the text is not perfect; some language around the automated decision-making provisions default to vague terms. For instance, rather than hard-edged requirements, States are only obliged to ‘take appropriate measures’ to ensure responsible use of ADM, and worker access to written explanations pertains only to ‘significant’ decisions. As the deadline for transposition of the Platform Work Directive nears, this fight for strong implementation of platform workers’ rights will spread around the world.

As States approach national implementation, they must ensure that they clearly articulate the nature of those ‘appropriate measures’ in a bold and ambitious way.

At minimum, States should push for platforms to provide explanations of decisions to workers by default, rather than just ‘upon request’. Explanations should also be specific and personalised to the worker, specifying the data and parameters on which decisions are based, and how an alternative outcome could have been reached. States should also consider how platforms can give workers and their representatives access to APIs, sandboxes or source code to understand for themselves how the algorithms work.

It is also essential that references to classification of employment not be interpreted to undermine the Convention’s practical effectiveness; all workers in the platform economy, regardless of their employment status, should enjoy the rights afforded by the Convention.

Ratification, implementation and Recommendations

Governments, platforms and the ILO should engage directly with workers, union representatives and civil society to develop effective legislative frameworks and adequate enforcement that best serve the rights and interests of workers. The ILO should also revisit a non-binding recommendation that was meant to be adopted alongside Convention C193. The draft Recommendation provided more detail on issues like transparency and explainability, giving essential guidance to Member States and platforms to support them in their interpretation of the Convention provisions. The delay to this recommendation creates the opportunity for it to respond to lessons learned in implementation and new emerging practices.

Continuing the fight for stronger worker protections in future spaces and forums

Convention C193 has laid the groundwork that recognises the impact digital technology is having on platform workers around the world. But the issue is of course not limited to the platform economy. In late 2025, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for a more general legislative proposal on algorithmic management in the workplace – and both the European Commission and the ILO have conducted research into the use of automated systems beyond the platform economy.

Privacy International have been working with fellow advocates from trade unions, digital rights organisations and human rights organisations to push for a strong ILO Convention, and together we must continue to fight for stronger safeguards for workers against the harms of automated decision-making in other spaces and forums.

Contribution by: EDRi member, Privacy International