The Fairwork Project
Fairwork evaluates and ranks the working conditions of digital platforms. Our ratings are based on five principles that digital labour platforms should ensure in order to be considered to be offering basic minimum standards of fairness. We evaluate platforms annually against these principles to show not only what the platform economy is today, but also what it could be. The Fairwork ratings provide an independent perspective on labour conditions of platform work for policymakers, platform companies, workers, and consumers. Our goal is to show that better, and fairer, jobs are possible in the platform economy.
The Fairwork project is coordinated from the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. Our network of researchers currently rates platforms in 38 countries across five continents. In every country, Fairwork collaborates closely with workers, platforms, advocates and policymakers to promote a fairer future of platform work.
Africa: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda
Asia: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam
Europe: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, UK, Serbia, Spain
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
North America: Mexico, USA
The Fairwork Framework
Fairwork evaluates the working conditions of digital labour platforms and ranks them on how well they do. Ultimately, our goal is to show that better, and fairer, jobs are possible in the platform economy.
The five Fairwork principles were initially developed through multiple multi-stakeholder workshops at the International Labour Organisation in 2018. To ensure that these global principles are applicable in each country context, we revised and fine-tuned them in subsequent years, in consultation with platform workers, platforms, trade unions, regulators, academics, and labour lawyers at the University of Oxford. We have also operationalised the principles for different types of platforms, namely geographically-tethered and non-geographically tethered.
The five principles
Fair Pay
Workers, irrespective of their employment classification, should earn a decent income in their home jurisdiction after taking account of work-related costs. We assess earnings according to the mandated minimum wage in the home jurisdiction, as well as the current living wage.
Fair Conditions
Platforms should have policies in place to protect workers from foundational risks arising from the processes of work, and should take proactive measures to protect and promote the health and safety of workers.
Fair Contracts
Terms and conditions should be accessible, readable and comprehensible. The party contracting with the worker must be subject to local law and must be identified in the contract. Regardless of the workers’ employment status, the contract is free of clauses which unreasonably exclude liability on the part of the service user and/or the platform.
Fair Management
There should be a documented process through which workers can be heard, can appeal decisions affecting them, and be informed of the reasons behind those decisions. There must be a clear channel of communication to workers involving the ability to appeal management decisions or deactivation. The use of algorithms is transparent and results in equitable outcomes for workers. There should be an identifiable and documented policy that ensures equity in the way workers are managed on a platform (for example, in the hiring, disciplining, or firing of workers).
Fair Representation
Platforms should provide a documented process through which worker voice can be expressed. Irrespective of their employment classification, workers should have the right to organise in collective bodies, and platforms should be prepared to cooperate and negotiate with them.
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