Connection time on digital platforms: an addition to the theory of working time
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu32.2025.107Abstract
The technological pattern of the platform economy, which has introduced network models of interaction into the relationship between employee and employer, with the help of which the legal mechanisms for protecting employees from exploitation are bypassed, necessitates the development of additions to the existing theory of working time. The author points out that the category of working time in the platform economy is transformed into connection time, without losing its fundamental meaning: providing limits on the duration of periods of labour tasks. The author defines connection time as the time during which a employee has online access to a personal account on a digital platform(s) to receive and perform labour tasks. After the end of the connection time, the employee is disconnected from access to the personal account on the digital platform(s). This ensures both the limitation of working time and the period of uninterrupted rest. The author believes that the introduction of connection time requires the development of software (creation of a single aggregator of digital platforms, a personal account of those employed on digital platforms with built-in algorithms for blocking the account at the end of the connection time) and the inclusion of employees on digital platforms in the scope of labour law, taking into account all the special features of such labour activity (autonomy, technology, remoteness, etc.) and the preservation of general social and labour rights and guarantees provided for by labour legislation. The author states that the problem of connection time requires further theoretical research, since, like working time, it affects many aspects of a worker's labour activity. In the author's opinion, it is relevant to conduct research on connection time in an interdisciplinary manner, involving not only labour scientists, but also scientists engaged in the study of technical and digital features of the device and programming of aggregators.
Keywords:
platform economy, digital platforms, working time, connection time, right to disconnect
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