Platform work
Platform work can be carried out, for example, by food couriers and cleaners who work on demand. When you start working for a company that operates on an internet platform, you are not regarded as an employee, but as an entrepreneur working as a partner of the company that provides the work.
What is platform work?
People who work through platforms do not have an employment relationship with the company they work for. As a platform worker, you are not protected by working time or occupational safety legislation, and you are not entitled to occupational health care. The employer will also not provide you with statutory occupational accident and disease insurance; you must make your own insurance arrangements.
Many platforms still work in the same way as any employer, that is, work carried out through the platform resembles traditional employment relationships. Many of the employer’s obligations and expenses have, however, been transferred to the worker. Your job may end at any time without notice, and you must ensure that you can get by in unexpected situations. If you fall ill or are injured during working hours, the business is not obligated to pay medical expenses or sick pay. No employment pension is accrued from your work, either.
Are you an employee or an entrepreneur?
If you work for a company operating on a platform, consider whether the following characteristics exist between you and the company that provides the work:
- The work is performed under the direction and supervision of the platform company (employer).
- The platform company determines the fees (i.e. how much is paid to workers).
- The platform company specifies the rules of work.
- The platform company determines the place where the work is carried out.
- You work at least in part with the tools of the platform company.
These characteristics are the hallmarks of an employment relationship under Finnish law. If they are present in your work, you are an employee under the law, and your employer should take care of the employer’s obligations set out in the labour and social security laws.
However, companies that offer platform work and trade unions disagree on whether those engaged in platform work are entrepreneurs or employees.
Many companies operating in the platform economy in Finland conduct their operations in such a way that the work meets the criteria for an employment relationship. In Finland, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled in 2025 that food couriers are employees within the meaning of the Employment Contracts Act. In addition, the European Union Platform Work Directive makes it easier for people working through platforms to access workers’ rights than before. A law implementing this directive must enter into force in Finland no later than December 2026.
When companies operating on a platform regard you as a partner or a self-employed entrepreneur, they usually do not pay for your pension, unemployment, health or other insurance. They benefit greatly from this. You’re a very cheap employee for them.
If you fall ill or have an accident, you won’t have the same insurance coverage as an employee with a formal employment relationship. In other words, platform workers are expected to pay their own taxes and other insurance premiums.
Read more
A dedicated trade union branch for food couriers
PAM, the union for the service sectors, has its own branch for food couriers, PAM Couriers Finland. You can read more about the activities of this union branch and join it on the PAM website (in Finnish and English).