By Stephanie Grasser, Project Manager at JUKUS.
This blog is produced as a part of the Reshaping Work Fellowship Programme. The opinions and views expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Reshaping Work or organisations that have supported the programme.
Imagine you’re a delivery rider or online freelancer whose platform-assigned tasks determine pay and working hours — and your country offers no clear employment protection. You are among millions of workers who experience this uncertainty because you perform digital labour tasks — in fact, recent global estimates suggest that between 154 and 435 million people worldwide engage in online gig work. The ILO launched the Global Policy Tracker on Digital Labour Platforms which provides both understanding and a solution for improvement.
What is the Global Policy Tracker?
The Global Policy Tracker serves as an online platform launched by the International Labour Organization in August 2025 to track how different countries establish platform work regulations through laws, court rulings, collective bargaining agreements and institutional responses. Its ambition is to equip governments, worker organizations, employers, researchers and also the general public with up-to-date, empirical information on what is being done, where, and how.
The platform focuses on national and regional legislative actions at present but future updates plan to add collective bargaining agreements, judicial decisions and other relevant initiatives.
As of September 2025, the tracker includes legislative entries from over 20 countries, among them Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, France, India, Kenya, Spain, Tanzania, the USA and Uruguay (exact country list available on the tracker site). Thematically, it covers issues such as automated decision-making, collective bargaining, discrimination, occupational safety and health, remuneration and social security.
Why Does it Matter?
The Global Policy Tracker operates as a database system which delivers both transparency and accountability functions and serves as an advocacy tool. The platform integrates all policy information into one central location which enables stakeholders to access it from a single-entry point.
First, the system provides different stakeholders with a clear view of the policy environment which would otherwise be difficult to track. The ILO has been warning for a long time that platform work has low entry barriers but also unstable earnings, long hours, and weak access to protections. A public database shows where governments execute their duties and where they fail to do so.
Second, it supports policy learning and diffusion. Different countries can learn from successful methods used by other states to create their own successful strategies.
Third, it empowers workers and civil society. The tracking system enables advocacy groups to show existing problems which they use to advocate for policy changes and track government official performance.
Policy Implications and Challenges
The Tracker represents an important advancement, yet multiple obstacles continue to exist:
The Handbook on Measuring Digital Platform Employment and Work shows that different definitions of platform workers exist, which creates challenges for international data comparison. The system could provide additional information for each policy entry that explains its characteristics, context and limitations to enable users to understand the entries effectively. Concrete improvements could include:
- Flagging whether entries cover enforcement actions or only the text of the law,
- Linking to primary source texts and key court rulings,
- Adding a “policy maturity” or “enforcement evidence” tag to indicate how well policies are implemented, and
- Allowing users to submit corroborating documentation, such as evidence of implementation, fines, or collective agreements.
These enhancements would make the tracker more actionable and allow users to better evaluate the real-world impact of platform work regulations.
Regulations have theoretical strength, but their effectiveness also depends on both proper enforcement and compliance from stakeholders. The Spanish Riders Law provides employment rights to delivery workers but research shows that platforms use contract changes to maintain operational flexibility while avoiding these protections. The difference between what laws state and how they are applied in reality indicates that recording laws alone might create an inaccurate picture of worker protection. The ILO should enhance the tracker by adding information on enforcement mechanisms, court rulings, and penalties for non-compliance, while encouraging contributors and users to submit corroborating evidence.
The systems of algorithmic management control essential elements of platform work through payment structures, task distribution and account termination but face restricted regulatory control. Research highlights persistent information asymmetries between platforms. Accordingly, the tracker could show not just whether algorithmic transparency is mentioned, but also on how substantive the obligations are.
Conclusion
The ILO’s Digital Labour Platform Tracker is a landmark transparency tool: it maps where countries are legislating platform work and provides a shared evidence base for policy learning and advocacy. But laws alone do not guarantee decent work. To be fully useful, the tracker should evolve to surface enforcement records, judicial rulings, collective bargaining outcomes, and the substance of algorithmic-transparency obligations — information that determines whether legal protections reach workers in practice. Stakeholders (researchers, unions, governments and platforms) should treat the tracker as a living resource and help populate it with enforcement and implementation evidence so it can move from documenting intent to measuring impact.
For more information and to explore the tracker, visit the ILO Digital Labour Platform Tracker.