Germany

“Platform work simplifies our lives day by day and offers opportunities, for example for innovative business models. However, fair working conditions and social security must also be guaranteed for persons performing platform work . The current Fairwork report for Germany provides important insights in this dynamically developing sector. It pays particular attention to the working conditions at intermediaries and subcontractors, which are currently gaining in importance in platform work.

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs wants to promote the sustainable growth of platforms on the basis of a level playing field. One milestone in this regard is the EU Platform Work Directive, which came into force at the end of 2024 and will be transposed into national law by the end of 2026.”

“Berlin stands for social justice and decent work – including in the platform economy. As Labour Senator, I am particularly committed to shaping new forms of work in a way that ensures fair and secure working conditions for everyone. The latest Fairwork Report 2025 makes one thing clear: while there has been some progress, serious shortcomings remain. Some platforms continue to offer regular employment contracts, but the subcontracting model is becoming increasingly widespread – often leading to precarious and opaque working conditions for workers. Not a single platform was able to provide convincing evidence of adequate health and safety protections or algorithmic transparency.

These findings are a clear call to action for policymakers. The upcoming transposition of the EU Platform Work Directive into national law offers a crucial opportunity to make platform work fair, safe, and future-proof. Berlin will advocate strongly for binding rules and effective enforcement. Business models based on insecure and unfair working conditions must become a thing of the past.”

“The Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) is proud to be one of the hosting institutions of the Fairwork project. With the Fairwork Germany Report 2025, the project presents its third report on the situation and working conditions in the German platform economy. The results show that the working conditions, which have always been precarious, have continued to deteriorate in this growing sector of the economy over the past three years: in the area of delivery and ride-hailing services, non-transparent networks of subcontractors have emerged, in the case of domestic work services, the risks for self-employed workers remain high, the algorithmic management systems are opaque and difficult to understand, and finally, the sector lacks structures of collective representation.

The research of the Fairwork project has an impact on current debates on rights and protections for platform workers; it aims to make platform work fairer by promoting fairer standards. The Fairwork project is thus exactly in line with the mission of the WZB: It conducts excellent research that contributes to the improvement of our society.”

“Berlin wants to be a pioneer of fair work – especially with regard to new forms of work in the platform economy. The Berlin Senate, and in particular the Senate Department for Integration, Labour and Social Affairs, are committed to fair working conditions in this sector. That is why I very much welcome and support Fairwork’s efforts to make labour standards in the platform economy transparent and to contribute to their improvement. The Fairwork Report for Germany shows that working conditions do vary, but above all that there is still a lot to be done. Business models based on unfair and unsafe working conditions are ‘out’ and should be a thing of the past.”

“The WZB Berlin Social Science Center is proud to be the home of the Fairwork Secretariat. Because Fairwork stands for exactly what the WZB is all about: excellent research that contributes to improving our society. Fairwork understands how to raise awareness about fair working conditions among HR managers in the platform economy. Some platforms have already responded and are planning improvements. This creates momentum and pressure: more platforms will follow suit. And platform workers will demand their rights more strongly. We see: Platform work in itself doesn’t have to be bad, if co-determination and certain regulations are accepted.”