The Covid-19 pandemic has played an important role in shaping labour markets by accelerating the growth of digital labour platforms which have in turn brought a number of challenges. These include issues in determining the correct employment status of workers performing platform work leading to inadequate access to basic labour and employment rights, lack of fairness, transparency and accountability in algorithmic management and, difficulties in enforcement and lack of traceability by the authorities. In Malta, these issues were being particularly felt within the sector of the delivery of consumer products. This prompted a national debate on the need to introduce a new legal framework to regulate platform workers providing this type of service.

Accordingly, the new Legal Notice 268 of 2022 entitled ‘Digital Platform Delivery Wages Council Wage Regulation Order 2022’ (“the Legal Notice”) seeks to regulate platform work performed by persons who are engaged by a digital labour platform or who are engaged by a work agency and are then assigned to or placed at the disposal of a digital labour platform, to provide services consisting of the delivery of any product.

The Legal Notice defines “platform worker” as:

• any person performing digital platform work and who has entered into a contract of employment or an employment relationship or any other form of arrangement irrespective of the contractual designation with any digital labour platform or multiple digital labour platforms...

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