Middlemen: The Croatian ‘Aggregators’ Failing Digital Platform Workers

'Fun' and 'freedom' came at a price, however.

Not formally employed by the digital courier giant, Marin [not his real name] couldn't be paid directly into his personal bank account, so managers at Glovo recommended he try an intermediary, a so-called aggregator, which would become his official employer.

For this, the aggregator took 10 per cent of Marin's earnings. And those earnings began to land late.

"I received my August salary on October 5," Marin told BIRN. "That's a big delay." Taking his troubles to Glovo, Marin said he was "told to contact my employer, the aggregator. That was basically it. In a sense, you're on your own."

From food delivery to home cleaning, ride hailing to marketing, tens of millions of so-called 'platform workers' around the world earn money via digital platforms that connect buyers and sellers of goods and services.

Reportedly, in Croatia, an estimated 80 per cent of such workers choose to be employed by an aggregator, while the rest register as self-employed. Platform workers and labour unions say labour violations are rife, with many aggregators opting to pay workers partly in cash and thus lowering the level of social security contributions and taxes; workers invariably work longer than the hours stipulated in their contracts.

Meanwhile, digital giants like Spanish Glovo or San Francisco-based ride-hail app Uber are free from many of the responsibilities that come with formal employment.

"Aggregators do the dirty part of the job so the platforms don't have to," said Ivan [not his real name], who drives for Uber and Tallinn-based Bolt. "Uber doesn't care if the social security contributions aren't paid or if the worker doesn't have the right to a paid vacation."

Ivan and Marin...