ILO adopts first global convention on decent work in the platform economy

The International Labour Organization has adopted the first global Convention on decent work in the platform economy, creating a new international labor standard for gig workers after years of debate over pay, legal status and the power of apps to control work.

The Convention, adopted at the International Labour Conference’s 114th session in Geneva on June 12, was approved in plenary by 406 votes to 8, with 36 abstentions, according to multiple reports. Identified as ILO Convention No. 193, it is formally titled the Convention concerning Decent Work in the Platform Economy, 2026.

The move is a significant development in international labor law because it sets out minimum standards for workers in app-based and other digitally mediated jobs. Reported core provisions cover protections regardless of how workers are formally labeled, a “primacy of facts” approach to classification, rules on pay and reimbursement of work-related expenses, access to social security, occupational safety and health, and protection from violence and harassment.

It also directly addresses algorithmic management, the software-based systems many platforms use to assign jobs, monitor performance, set incentives and suspend or deactivate workers. Reported provisions include transparency about automated systems, understandable explanations for adverse automated decisions, and human review of suspensions or deactivations, along with protections against unjustified removal from a platform and access to remedies or dispute resolution.

Platform work includes jobs such as ride-hailing, delivery and other labor arranged through digital apps. In many countries, disputes have centered on whether those workers are employees or independent contractors, a distinction that can determine access to minimum wage laws, social protection and other rights. Labor groups and NGOs have said this is the first ILO Convention to explicitly address algorithmic management, making it notable not just for traditional workplace issues but for how software governs access to work itself.

Still, the Convention does not automatically change labor law worldwide. The ILO is the United Nations labor agency, and its conventions become binding only for member states that ratify them. Under standard ILO procedure, a convention typically enters into force 12 months after two member states register ratifications, and then for each ratifying country 12 months after that country’s own ratification is registered. In practice, its effect will depend on whether countries ratify it and how they implement it in national law.

The International Labour Conference is the ILO’s annual tripartite meeting, bringing together representatives of governments, employers and workers from the organization’s 187 member states. The new Convention caps a multi-year standard-setting process that began when the issue was placed on the ILO agenda in 2023, followed by negotiation rounds in 2025 and 2026.

Several reports said an accompanying Recommendation, which would typically provide more detailed guidance alongside a Convention, was not completed in plenary because of time constraints. The ILO Governing Body is expected to decide the next steps.

Amanda Brown, vice chair of the ILO Workers’ Group, called the adoption a landmark moment. “For the first time in the history of international law, the women and men who move our cities, who clean and care in our homes … will be named, recognised and protected by a binding international standard,” she said, according to multiple news reports.