Reuters (08.01.2024) The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden will release a final rule as soon as this week that will make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors rather than employees that typically cost a company more, an administration official said. The U.S. Department of Labor rule, which was first proposed in 2022 and is likely to face legal challenges, will require that workers be considered employees entitled to more benefits and legal protections than contractors when they are "economically dependent" on a company.

STANOVNIŠTVO, 2023, 61(2) In most European Union (EU) Member States, self-employed individuals receive, on average, lower retirement pensions than employees. Furthermore, the number of self-employed pensioners is lower, and there is a significant proportion of self-employed workers in the EU who are not entitled to a retirement pension. The situation is even more delicate for the new self-employed, as their mode of labour market participation, career trajectory, and the income level they reach can potentially compromise their future pension prospects.

South China Morning Post (03.01.2024) Questions for people aged 60 and above were added to a survey on population changes and the labour force, including their ability to use a smartphone. A demographer urged China, one of the world’s fastest ageing countries, to ‘build a digitally inclusive society’, while firms were asked to produce age-friendly products

worldbank.org (14.12.2023) The rise of “gig” or digital platform work globally has led to both enthusiasm for its potential to create lucrative employment for large numbers of people, as well as concern about its implications for worker protection that is often provided in more standard employment. While gig work platforms may not be akin to employers in standard work relationships, arrangements that do not obligate them to provide worker protection and social insurance contributions may leave several platform workers unprotected against a range of risks.

ILO Working paper 101 (20.12.2023) This paper seeks to explore the key emerging regulatory dimensions of platform work. It contextualizes the challenges associated with platform work as an expression of the consolidated features that, in the past decades, have been transforming the labour market: non-standardization and the deregulation of employment relationships.

thenationalnews.com (14.12.2023) Millions of people globally will have no choice but to work into their seventies to ease increasing pressure on pension systems as life expectancy rates continue to rise, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has said. OECD countries are moving to increase statutory retirement ages, curb early retirement and offer employees incentives to work longer to boost the sustainability of their pension systems, the Paris-based organisation said in its Pensions at a Glance 2023 report.

ILO News (15.12.2023) The Parliament of Lebanon has passed a law that establishes a comprehensive pension system for private sector workers and fundamentally reshapes the governance of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). Previous attempts spanning three decades to replace Lebanon’s end-of-service indemnity system with a modern pension scheme had been met with failure. Until this recent milestone, Lebanon stood as one of only two countries in the Arab region without a scheme that protects insured workers with long-term periodical benefits for retirement, death and disability.

 EURACTIV.com (13.12.2023) The Platform Workers Directive is a bill to regulate the gig economy and ensure that workers of digital platforms like Deliveroo and Uber have the correct contractual status based on their treatment and working conditions. According to the European Commission, almost one in five platform workers ought to be reclassified from self-employed to full-time employees. The Directive intends to establish a harmonised mechanism to assess and operate contractual changes across the bloc.

consilium.europa.eu (13.12.2023)The Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on a proposed directive to improve working conditions for platform workers. In the event that the deal struck today is confirmed by both institutions before going through the formal adoption procedure, it will help millions of them gain access to employment rights.

ilo.org (11.12.2023) Public employment services have a central role in responding to crises and fostering recovery to ensure efficient and well-functioning labour markets. This Q&A provides details from the first global report by the ILO on public employment services, shedding light on the latest developments and trends of employment services and active labour market policies.