Information technologies and challenges of the labour law reform

Abstract

Exceptional development of information and communication technologies has enabled emerging of new occupations in the last twenty years, but also new models of working engagement of people who cannot easily be classified under traditional labour law institutes. So-called "digital labour" has become reality of all societies around the globe. By developing Internet accessibility, there is almost no country in which digital workers might not appear. This type of work knows no boundaries, which leads to specific situations that classical labour law cannot always adequately address. The notion of a "digital worker" itself is not entirely clear. Whilst in this category can be counted those who are fully connected to computers and electronic communications (for example, programmers), it is not entirely certain whether digital worker is one who uses informational technologies only as a way of communicating with the employer while providing services in the "real world" (for example, uber workers). The above concerns, as well as many others that arise in these specific legal relationships, lead to the fact that digital workers are often considered insufficiently recognized in national labour law systems, as well as deprived of some basic rights that workers should have regardless of type of their work engagement. While many individual labour rights are compromised, collective rights can be said to be virtually non-existent, or at least very difficult to achieve. Our research focuses on current normative framework and possibilities for improvements in the labour law

Keywords

• information technologies
• digital platforms
• digital labour
• basic labour rights
• labour law reform