House of gigs. Domestic workers, algorithmic management and the Platform Work Directive

Abstract

This chapter examines the impact of digital intermediaries and algorithmic management (AM) systems on domestic work, a sector often marginalized in discussions of the gig economy. By revisiting the continuities and discontinuities between platformised and non-platformised domestic work, it highlights how digital intermediaries perpetuate and exacerbate longstanding structural issues, including temporal precariousness, income instability, and power asymmetries. The analysis explores AM’s unique characteristics in this sector, such as its limited automation potential and the hybrid model of human and non-human management. Focusing on working conditions in the domestic work sector, the chapter assesses the adequacy of existing legal instruments, such as the Working Time Directive and the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive, in addressing the non-linear, fragmented, and irregular work patterns prevalent in domestic work. It further evaluates the potential of the EU Platform Work Directive (PWD) to close protection gaps, particularly through its employment presumption and measures addressing AM. The chapter concludes that, despite the significant advancements, PWD’s design fails to fully address the complexity of domestic work and its unique challenges.

Keywords: domestic work, platform work, care work, working time, intermediaries, transparency, decent work, european union