Mark Graham’s Fairwork project publishes new ratings system for working conditions in digital economy

The Fairwork project, led by Senior Research Fellow Professor Mark Graham, has published the world’s first-ever ratings system for working conditions in the digital economy.

There are over seven million digital platform workers around the world doing work that is outsourced via platforms or apps, and the Fairwork Foundation is committed to highlighting the best and worst practices in the emerging platform economy.

Fairwork’s ratings system has been piloted in India and South Africa, ranking platforms such as Uber and Taxify based on five standards: fair work, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management and fair representation.

These standards take into account everything from paying minimum wage (after workers’ costs), promoting good health and safety to improve working conditions, providing due process for decisions affecting workers, and transparent terms and conditions in workers’ contracts.

The plan is for ratings to be updated annually with the United Kingdom and Germany the next countries in which digital platforms will be rated.

Mark, who is Professor of Internet Geography at the Oxford Internet Institute, said: “The Fairwork rating system shines a light on best and worst practice in the platform economy.

“This is an area in which for too long, very few regulations have been in place to protect workers. These ratings will enable consumers to make informed choices about the platforms and services they need when ordering a cab, a takeaway or outsourcing a simple task.

“Our hope is that our five areas of fairness will take a life of their own, and that workers, platforms, and other advocates will start using them to improve the working conditions across the platform economy.”

Platforms were scored out of a possible 10 points, with e-commerce store Flipkart topping the rankings in India with 7 points and freelancer platform NoSweat leading South Africa’s rankings with 8 points. A full list of rankings for both countries can be viewed here.

The Fairwork project has already led to positive impacts. It has collaborated with South African delivery app Bottles, which has committed to support the emergence of fair workers representation on its platform. Meanwhile, NoSweat has introduced significant changes across all five Fairwork standards.

Wilfred Greyling, the co-founder of NoSweat, said: “NoSweat Work believes firmly in a fair deal for all parties involved in any work we put out. Fairwork has helped us formalise those principles and incorporate them into our systems. The NoSweat Work platform is built on people and relationships, we never hide behind faceless technology.”

Further discussions are taking place with platforms in India, where Fairwork’s research found the majority of India’s platform workers are working on platforms scoring below 5 points, which is Fairwork’s basic standard. That affects more than one million workers in India.

Mark is the Director of the Fairwork Foundation, established by the Oxford Internet Institute. The project is financed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and commissioned by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.

Fairwork aims to implement a long-term strategy to contribute to the welfare and job quality of digital platform workers, and certify the production networks within the digital gig economy, much like the Fairtrade Foundation has certified the origins and production chains of certain products.

Find out more about Fairwork here.

(Photo credit: iStock.com / ViewApart – stock image)