The context of society- and economy-wide platformization and an expanding spectrum of platform workplaces necessitates a re-think of labor rights at the intersection of data, data-enabled algorithms, and work process reorganization. This working paper takes stock of emerging debates in this frontier domain of workers’ data rights, evaluating the efficacy of national level legal-policy frameworks in addressing them, and highlighting the gaps that need to be bridged. It spotlights four critical considerations: recognition of algorithmic control as a key yardstick in the employment relationship, workers’ right to explanation in automated systems for workplace decision-making, workers’ data rights in social security programs, and collective data rights of workers in their aggregate data commons. The paper concludes with some reflections to restore worker autonomy and labor share of value in relation to the platformized workplace, calling for a new social contract for labor in the 21st century. The paper concludes with some reflections to restore worker autonomy and labor share of value in relation to the platformized workplace, calling for a new social contract for labor in the 21st century.
Jun 2022
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