Thanks to Juri Stani Pascarella for collaborating on this article
The legal status of riders and platform workers continues to evolve rapidly under both Italian domestic legislation and European Union law. In its recent Circular[1] (hereinafter “Circular No. 9”), the Italian Ministry of Labour provided guidance regarding the ways in which these individuals may carry out their professional activities.
Indeed, work performed by individuals through a digital platform may be organized – like any other form of employment – in significantly different ways and may take the form of either self-employment or an employment relationship. Furthermore, the well-established case law of the Court of Cassation has clarified that the classification of a working relationship as either self-employed or employed depends on the actual manner in which the work is performed, rather than on the legal qualification assigned by the parties at the time of contracting.
In addition, from a regulatory perspective, the domestic framework (Article 2 and Chapter V-bis of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015) has recently been supplemented by Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on platform work (“Directive”), adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, which all Member States must transpose by December 2, 2026. Considering this context, Circular No. 9, without intending to anticipate the decisions that will be taken by the national legislator during the implementation of the Directive, seeks to provide a detailed and accurate overview of the key characteristics of the relevant employment relationship.
A) Self-employment status
Circular No. 9 clarifies that platform work may be carried out in the form of self-employment.
In order for the activity of a platform worker to be classified as autonomous the existence of the following characteristics is necessary:
a) the absence of:
- control powers (including about the time and place of the performance, exercised, for example, through the imposition of delivery times or the geolocation of the rider for purposes other than those instrumental to the organizational needs of the delivery activity);
- directional powers (e.g., the obligation to be present in specific areas in order to access the app and receive delivery orders, or the obligation to follow predetermined routes to carry out deliveries);
- disciplinary powers (e.g., reputational ranking, where it has express consequences on remuneration—for instance, by allocating work in more or less profitable time slots based on the worker’s reliability, or by depriving underperforming workers of job opportunities, up to and including disconnecting them from their account, which is a necessary condition for undertaking further delivery activities);
b) the genuine ability of the worker to refuse the delivery assignment or to unilaterally withdraw their availability, without incurring any adverse consequences for future collaborations.
c) In this regard, Article 47-bis of the Legislative Decree 81/2015 – which introduces Chapter V-bis concerning the “Protection of work carried out through digital platforms” – has acknowledged a minimum level of protection for self-employed workers who perform the delivery of goods on behalf of third parties, within urban areas and with the aid of bicycles or motor vehicles, in terms of contractual form, compensation, non-discrimination, data protection, mandatory insurances.
B) Employment relationship
Circular no. 9 clarifies that the possibility of entering into an employment relationship through digital platforms may, first, be the result of an explicit decision to that effect, expressed through the hiring process with all the due formalities and full application of employment laws.
Secondly, it can be the result of a requalification of status after litigation. In this regard, case law has identified indicators of an employment relationship in relation to the specific activities carried out by riders for digital platforms.
In particular, the existence of specific and substantially binding directives, which the delivery rider is required to comply with, indicates the presence of directional power. Also, the fact that the digital platform imposes compliance with predetermined time slots and orders and assign scores to delivery riders is indicative of the existence of control power. Furthermore, where low scores are accompanied by warnings or other consequences of a substantially punitive nature, disciplinary power may also be detected.
C) Hetero-organized collaborations
The rules governing employment relationships may also apply to delivery riders even when their activities do not fall within the scope of employment, but, pursuant to Article 2 of Legislative Decree 81/2015, the manner in which the relationship is performed in substance “consist of work:
- mainly personal,
- continuous
- and organized by the client.”
In these cases, the legislator has deemed it necessary to apply the rules governing employment in order to protect the contractual weakness of the delivery rider, without this resulting in the full reclassification of the relationship.
D) Directive (EU) 2024/2831
The legal framework regulating riders and platform workers was amended on November 11, 2024, when the Directive on improving working conditions in work performed through digital platforms was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The Directive applies not only to riders but to all persons performing “platform work” within the Union who have – or who, after a factual assessment, are deemed to have – an employment contract or employment relationship under Member State law, collective agreements or practice.
It binds every digital labour platform that organizes work at a distance via electronic means at the request of a service recipient, irrespective of the platform’s place of establishment, provided the work is carried out in the EU.
This Directive will introduce measures to facilitate the correct classification of employment relationships, promote transparency in algorithmic management, and protect workers’ personal data.
In particular, Directive introduces a legal presumption of subordination, on the basis of which it is presumed that the contractual relationship between a digital work platform and a person performing work through that platform constitutes an employment relationship if there are facts indicating direction and control, in accordance with national law, collective agreements or practices in the Member States, taking into account the case law of the Court of Justice. If the digital platform intends to rebut the legal presumption, it will have to prove that the contractual relationship in question is not an employment relationship.
The Directive must be transposed into national law by December 2, 2026.
E) Conclusions
In conclusion, Circular No. 9 serves as a preliminary interpretative tool within the current national framework, providing guidance on the legal classification of platform work in light of existing domestic legislation. Its content aligns with the principles outlined in the Directive (EU) and anticipates the forthcoming adjustments required for compliance. However, the full legal and operational implications of the Directive will only become clear upon its formal transposition into national law by the December 2026 deadline.
Accordingly, it is essential to continuously monitor both jurisprudential developments and legislative initiatives in order to avoid misclassifying this specific category of worker, which is becoming increasingly common.
[1] Circular No. 9 of April 18, 2025
