Fairwork Project Recognised for Global Policy Influence at the 2025 Oxford Social Science Impact Awards

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The commendation recognises Fairwork’s role in raising global awareness of the working conditions in the platform economy and our contribution to promoting fairer labour standards through research and advocacy.

Though not the main prize, this commendation reflects the sustained and collective efforts of our global network: researchers, workers, union partners, activists, and advocates committed to building more just digital labour markets.

“This recognition speaks to the collective effort of workers, researchers, and advocates who have brought visibility to platform labour challenges and pushed for stronger protections across borders. Fairwork is proud to play a role in building momentum toward fairer digital economies—grounded in evidence, equity, and worker voice.”
— The Fairwork Global Secretariat

Fairwork’s Mission: Changing the Rules of the Platform Economy

Fairwork evaluates the conditions of digital labour platforms—such as ride-hailing, food delivery, domestic work, and freelancing—against five principles of fairness: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation. These principles are rooted in international labour standards and informed by in-depth research with platform workers and local experts in over 40 countries across the Global South and North.

Yet Fairwork’s goal is not only to measure fairness, but to mobilise change. We engage directly with policymakers, platforms, civil society organisations, and international bodies to push for stronger accountability, ethical business practices, and rights-based regulation in the platform economy.

From Evidence to Policy: Fairwork’s Global Impact

The OII commendation recognises Fairwork’s significant and growing influence on public policy and regulatory thinking. Our research has contributed to legislative reforms, international standards-setting, and local-level worker protections.

Some key examples include:

Influencing Global Frameworks

Fairwork’s work is contributing to discussions at the International Labour Organization (ILO), where the upcoming 2025 International Labour Conference will include a landmark agenda item on decent work in the platform economy. Fairwork has engaged with ILO representatives, feeding in empirical evidence on algorithmic management, employment classification, and platform accountability.

Fairwork’s research has also informed debates at the UN level, including references in key reports on digital labour, gendered precarity, and emerging technologies.

Shaping National Policy

In South Africa, Fairwork’s recommendations were cited by the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and our ongoing engagement with local trade unions and policymakers is helping frame regulatory options for gig work.

In India, Fairwork’s insights have been part of national debates around the Code on Social Security (2020), where the recognition of gig and platform workers as a formal category has opened new conversations around rights, entitlements, and social protection.

In Germany, Fairwork has been in dialogue with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), contributing to the country’s approach to algorithmic transparency and fair management in platform-based work.

In Chile and Colombia, Fairwork findings have been cited in legal and policy discussions around employment classification and social protections for delivery workers.

Contributing to the EU Platform Work Directive

Fairwork’s detailed evidence on algorithmic control and worker misclassification has been used by several stakeholders involved in shaping the EU Platform Work Directive. This includes consultations with policymakers and civil society groups advocating for stronger worker rights and platform accountability.

Worker-Centered, Globally Grounded

A defining feature of Fairwork’s approach is our commitment to centering workers’ voices in policy conversations. Our scoring system, which rates platforms annually across our five principles, is grounded in extensive interviews and fieldwork with platform workers, unions, and community organisations.

In the Philippines, for example, Fairwork has highlighted how extreme weather events intersect with platform work to create new vulnerabilities—from riders delivering during typhoons to the absence of health protections in extreme heat. These findings have been taken up by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and featured in multi-stakeholder policy forums hosted by Fairwork Philippines.

In Bangladesh, our research has shed light on gendered disparities in platform work, supporting the work of local feminist organisations advocating for safer and more inclusive digital labour platforms.

Across all contexts, Fairwork is committed to producing locally relevant research that can be translated into actionable policy change—whether through national law, platform policy shifts, or international advocacy.

Engagement Beyond Research: Platforms and Pledges

Beyond influencing regulation, Fairwork engages directly with platform companies to advocate for fairer practices. Since 2019, over 66 unique companies have made meaningful changes after being scored—ranging from improved dispute resolution procedures and clearer contracts to wage guarantees and in-app safety features.

To build momentum for structural change, Fairwork also invites organisations—including investors, cities, and universities—to sign the Fairwork Pledge, committing to support and promote fairer platform labour. Pledge signatories include the City of Berlin, several European universities, and private institutions seeking to embed ethical procurement into their operations.

Looking Ahead: Recognition as Motivation

The “Highly Commended” recognition from the Oxford Internet Institute is a moment of reflection and celebration for the Fairwork network. It reaffirms that evidence-based, collaborative, and worker-centered research can move the needle on global policy—and that even in the fast-evolving platform economy, fairness is not just possible, but necessary.

We remain committed to:

Holding platforms accountable through rigorous research and public reporting.

Supporting governments and institutions in designing policies that protect platform workers.

Amplifying the lived realities of workers navigating the platform economy across different cultural, social, and economic contexts.

As we move forward, we continue to call on all stakeholders—governments, platforms, funders, and civil society—to join us in building a future where all work is fair work.