Platform-based work in Germany – The legal framework is moving

The Platform Work Directive of the EU

In October 2024, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union introduced Directive (EU) 2024/2831, a set of rules intended to improve working conditions in platform work. Known as the Platform Work Directive, it came into force on 1 December 2024. European member states have since had until 2 December 2026 to create the necessary legal and administrative provisions to implement the directive. According to public statements, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs intends is engaging with various interest groups to establish a secure and practical legal framework. The coming months will show whether this will be successful.

In the Directive, the EU defines “platform work” as a type of employment that is difficult to classify under traditional forms of employment in German labour and civil law. According to the Directive, platform work is "work organised through a digital labour platform (…) by an individual on the basis of a contractual relationship between the digital labour platform or an intermediary, and the individual, irrespective of whether there is a contractual relationship between the individual or an intermediary and the recipient of the service." Platform work or platform-based work has not yet appeared to any relevant extent in German legislation.

The Act on the Modernization and Digitalization of the Fight against Illegal Employment

This has now changed for the first time with the Act on the Modernisation and Digitalization of the Fight against Illegal Employment, which came into force on 30 December 2025. So-called 'platform-based delivery services' are now listed as a specific example for the logistics industry in Section 2a (1) of the Act to Combat Illegal Employment (Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz – SchwarzArbG).

At first glance, the regulation only defines the economic sectors and branches in which persons employed therein are obliged to carry and present their identification documents. However, beyond the legal dimension, the regulation also lists the economic sectors that are the focus of efforts by the authorities, particularly the customs authorities, to combat illegal employment. In this respect, the legislator refers to 'risk sectors', i.e. sectors in which illegal employment is more prevalent.

The reasoning behind the law specifies the legislator's definition of platform-based delivery services: "Platform operators who organise the delivery of goods provided by third parties, as well as subcontractors who carry out or organise such deliveries for a platform operator". Similar to the EU's definition of platform work, the German legislature thus focuses on the work platform and any intermediaries engaged by the platform (as per Art. 2 (1) of the Directive) or subcontractors (as per the explanatory memorandum to the amended Section 2a (1) SchwarzArbG).

As Section 2a SchwarzArbG is referenced in various other legal provisions, the inclusion of platform-based delivery services in the list of high-risk industries has implications beyond the obligation to carry and present identification documents. Section 17 (1) of the Minimum Wage Act (Mindestlohngesetz - MiLoG) creates an obligation to record the start, end and duration of the daily working time of employees who work for platform-based delivery services.

In addition to being scrutinised by lawmakers, platform-based delivery services are likely to be subject to greater scrutiny by customs authorities due to their explicit inclusion in the Act to Combat Illegal Employment.

The Federal Labour Court on works council elections in platform work

In addition to developments in legislation, platform work has also recently become the subject of decisions by the Federal Labor Court (7 ABR 23/24 et al.). The court had to deal with the question of whether platform work carried out in a city, mainly by using an app, constitutes a spatial unit for which a separate works council can be elected. The Federal Labour Court's answer: only if this unit constitutes an operation or independent part of an operation within the meaning of the Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz – BetrVG). And such an operation does not exist in the case of a group of employed delivery drivers due to a lack of organizational independence. In the present decisions, this meant that the elections of three works councils by employees of a company were deemed invalid.

According to the Federal Labour Court, the term operation, as defined in the Works Constitution Act, applies to digital employment relationships controlled via an app. Simply grouping delivery drivers into a delivery area with their own duty roster does not fulfil the definition of an "operation" or "part of an operation".

This decision will be highly relevant for platform work beyond the delivery service industry. It once again highlights the conflict between long-standing legislation and related case law on the one hand, and new working models on the other. In light of this, it will be interesting to see whether legislators will also make adjustments in this regard when implementing the Platform Work Directive.

Outlook

The latest legislative changes and decisions by the Federal Labour Court are prompting changes to the legal framework governing platform work in Germany. 2026 will be a pivotal year for the future legal development and practical implementation of this form of work. The coming months are therefore set to be very exciting.

Authored by Paul Single.