Russia Weighs Bringing Platform Self-employed Workers Under Labor Law
About 9.5 million people in Russia, most of them couriers and ride-hailing drivers, earn income by taking orders through digital platforms. A new proposal seeks to redefine how those relationships are regulated – and whether platform operators should be treated as employers.
Platform Worker Status
Today, digital platforms and individual contractors in Russia typically work under civil law agreements rather than labor contracts. The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) argues that this model leaves workers without basic social protections, including paid leave and sick pay. To address that gap, the union has proposed amendments to Russia’s Labor Code.
Under the proposal, a platform operator could be recognized as an employer if it meets at least two criteria from a defined list. These include distributing orders, restricting access to customers outside the platform, controlling work schedules, or setting compensation levels. Self-employed individuals who earn income through an aggregator would then be able to obtain the legal status of a “platform worker.”
A Barrier Against Shadow Practices
The push for new regulation is rooted in the rapid expansion of the digital economy. As platform-based work becomes more widespread, lawmakers face pressure to update legislation in order to eliminate gray-market practices and remove millions of workers from legal uncertainty.
Platform employment has become routine, yet it remains largely unregulated by labor law. Some companies exploit this gap to reduce costs by effectively classifying permanent workers as temporary contractors. That approach lowers taxable income and social contributions, shifting financial risk away from employers and onto workers.
A law on platform employment is scheduled to take effect in October 2026. It is designed to define the legal framework governing relationships between platforms and the people who work through them. FNPR, however, maintains that in certain cases those relationships should be recognized as employment rather than civil contracts.
Objections and Trade-Offs
The initiative has sparked intense debate and is far from universally popular. Both platform operators and workers have raised concerns about additional regulation.
For self-employed workers, tighter rules could erode one of the key advantages of platform work – flexible schedules. There is also a financial downside: instead of paying the professional income tax, they could be required to pay personal income tax, which is roughly three times higher.
Platforms themselves, from large aggregators to niche services, would face rising operating costs due to insurance contributions, taxes, and compliance requirements. Efforts to bring parts of the market out of the shadows could backfire if the regulatory burden becomes too heavy, making the search for a workable balance essential.
A Global Agenda
Russia is not alone in grappling with these questions. Similar debates are underway in the United States, India, and Brazil. Spain adopted a law in 2021 requiring food delivery platforms to hire couriers as employees, a move that triggered protests from both workers and trade unions. In the European Union, a directive aimed at protecting platform workers came into force at the end of 2024, with member states given two years to implement it. The challenge of balancing economic efficiency with social protections in an increasingly digital labor market has become a global trend.
In 2026, the FNPR initiative is likely to be actively debated within Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Labor, and the State Duma. Given the growing number of platform workers, Russia may ultimately adopt amendments to the Labor Code or pass a standalone law on platform employment. Digitalization is no longer just about technology – it has become a defining feature of the modern labor market.
