Platform Work Directive Changes & Insurance Workers Need

Platform workers come in all shapes and sizes. All generations and levels of education. All degrees of committed or casual. But they have one thing in common - they are reshaping the rules of a workforce by choosing how, when and for whom they work.

A recent study from Upwork found that about 60 million Americans, which is 39% of the workforce, are already performing freelance or platform work either full- or part-time. That number is expected to grow to 86 million, doubling the size. Gen Z seems to be leading this shift with more than half of the surveyed doing freelance work compared to 44% of Millennials, 30% of Gen X and 26% of Boomers. The most popular segment is not rideshare drivers or delivery couriers, but knowledge workers who are doing customer service, copywriters, financial analysts, paralegals, writers and coders.

All of this data supports the fact that platform work is a rising trend and the future of the workforce will look radically different. Platforms and employers need to take this into consideration.

First Things First. Who is a Platform Worker?

Platform worker is a worker who sources or maintains work through a digital platform, doing task based gigs or short-term temporary work that they access via these marketplaces. Rather a flexible job than permanent position.

A customer requests a service through an app, the platform connects suitable or available people, the job gets done by them and payment is being made. Platform usually takes a commission from each transaction.

It can range from putting furniture together, delivering food or helping out with event organisation. Not only that, it can also be digital tasks like graphic design or marketing advice. Options are endless.

Taskrabbit is an online marketplace that matches freelance workers with local clients for household chores, moving, and handyman services. You post a task, the tasker gets chosen and the task will be done. A simple way to bring people together to help each other.

Another similar platform is Fiverr. Offering services on programming and tech, graphic design, digital marketing, writing & translation, video production, music production, etc. A leading digital freelance platform, having high-quality, specialised and diverse talent.

Both of these platforms have slightly different focuses on what type of services are offered but the core theme stays the same. Offering people a flexible way of working to earn extra money.

A New Generation of Workers, Facing New Rules on How They’re Classified

How to classify a gig worker is one of the biggest questions in the platform economy right now. The EU Platform Work Directive has to be written into national law by 2 December 2026.

It requires employers to improve the working conditions and to protect the personal data of workers in the European Union. Aiming to have more transparency in platform work, to ensure correct employment statuses have been set and regulating the use of automated monitoring and decision-making systems.

Some countries are not waiting and requiring platforms to offer minimum wages, benefits or even proper employment statuses already.

What the Platform Work Directive Changes

The core change revolves around assumption of employment. If a platform controls how, when or for how much someone works, that person is presumed to be an employee. It’s considered otherwise, when a person can choose their own hourly rate and time of work.

Taskers who are classified as employees already get sick pay, paid holidays, social security contributions, and employer-provided accident cover.

Most of the time that’s not the case yet.

Directive also targets algorithms. Platforms need to be open about how their algorithms monitor workers and make decisions, such as assigning jobs, setting pay, or deactivating accounts. Those decisions need to have human oversight.

They also need to provide transparency on how they monitor and do their decision-making processes.

How Will Platforms Support Their Newly Classified Workers?

In most European countries, platforms aren’t required to insure workers, apart from motor third-party liability (MTPL) for vehicles.

Today workers need to secure their own health, liability, disability, and auto insurance. Many people also don’t do that, until something goes wrong and they realise one accident can wipe out their whole income.

With these changes some expect the world to look radically different tomorrow. A few analysts are predicting that the increased regulation will be accompanied by a wave of insurance burdens upon platforms. As the newly classified workers will require everything from health to incapacity and unemployment benefits for the first time.

Liability shifts depending on a type of work done.

Insurance Options for Digital Marketplaces Enabling Platform Work

Bare with me now, things are about to get dry. Like really dry. But sometimes you have to walk through the desert to reach the oasis. In this case, that is an oasis of insight and awareness for how these changes impact the burden on your operations when it comes to insurance requirements. So, drink up, and let's set off.

Insurance options depend on a platform and what their focus is. Taskrabbit focuses on in-person services, while Fiverr focuses on digital services. Insurance options and solutions change between different platforms.

It also depends on work done. When performing a task from Taskrabbit like assembling furniture, it needs considering in-person physical harm.

Virtually working taskers don't face physical damages. But still there’s options for damaging intellectual or financial property.

This means there’s a need for professional liability. Then personal liability insurance helps to cover claims that are related to professional mistakes, or unsatisfactory work. It’s important for people who offer consulting services, web developers, and financial service providers.

But, they are facing some challenges that people under traditional companies are not facing. Most gig workers lack access to healthcare, pensions, or unemployment protection. This leaves people vulnerable to income changes, illness, or economic shifts.

General liability insurance helps to protect against common third-party claims, property damage, so on. If clients visit the workspace, or you work on-site at client locations, or your work involves physical property, general liability covers bodily injury and property damage claims. Like people working as photographers, event planners, contractors, and anyone who works in person.

Disability insurance or incapacity benefit replaces the amount of your income, typically 60%, when you can’t work due to illness or injury. Often freelancers leave this fully out of consideration.

Add it all up and the gap is clear.

An employee gets most of this protection by default. A gig worker has to find, choose and pay for each piece themselves, and many don’t. Most also go without having any safety net what traditional employees take for granted: pensions, unemployment protection, and often healthcare. That leaves them exposed when income drops, illness hits or the market shifts.

Health insurance is the last big piece. Where it isn’t covered by an employer or the public system, gig workers usually have to arrange it on their own.

That raises a question for platforms, not only what workers should buy, but what you should provide.

Which Insurance for Workers Will My Platform Need?

Platform workers insurance is still a highly dynamic environment. Different rules, national legislations apply country by country. We are still yet to see how each country applies the Platform Work Directive. Expect the picture to keep shifting for a while.

That’s the dry part done. Now for the best part - you’re not alone in this.

Cachet has been supporting digital platforms for 8 years now and is currently working in 16 European markets. Together, we can help you figure out what the new rules mean for you and which coverage fits your platform workers best.