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Image illustrating: International Labour Organization headquarters (editorial)
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ILO adopts global platform work convention in Geneva

The International Labour Organization adopted the Decent Work in the Platform Economy Convention at the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva on 12 June 2026, according to the ILO vote figures cited in the lead agencies. The convention sets a global labour-standard baseline for digital platform work, including employment-status safeguards, minimum wage enforcement, social protection and rules for app-based management. The ILO’s conference page says the 2026 session brought government, employer and worker representatives from 187 member states together to discuss platform-economy work. For Europe, the decision lands beside the EU’s own Platform Work Directive: the Council of the EU says that directive covers more than 28 million people working through digital labour platforms and requires national rules on employment presumption and algorithmic management. The treaty does not automatically rewrite Belgian law, but it strengthens the international benchmark against which Belgium, EU institutions, platforms and unions will argue future rules.

Belgium Impulse Editorial·12 June 2026·3 min read·9 sources
Key signal

This matters first for platform workers in Belgium and across Europe: couriers, ride-hailing drivers, online freelancers and migrant workers who often depend on app-based income. It also matters for restaurants, retailers, SMEs and consumers using delivery platforms, because stronger standards can change costs, liability and service models. Belgian federal labour and social-security authorities, unions and employer federations will read the ILO convention alongside the EU Platform Work Directive when arguing over classification, algorithmic control and social protection.

The International Labour Organization (UN specialised agency founded in 1919, headquartered in Geneva) sets international labour standards through conventions and recommendations. The International Labour Conference (annual ILO assembly of governments, employers and workers) adopts those standards and broad policy decisions. The Decent Work in the Platform Economy Convention (ILO treaty adopted in 2026, according to the lead agencies) is the new global instrument for app-mediated work. Digital labour platforms (services such as ride-hailing, food delivery or online task platforms) use apps and algorithms to match customers and workers. The Council of the European Union (EU institution representing member-state governments) adopted the EU Platform Work Directive in 2024. Pierre-Yves Dermagne (Belgian deputy prime minister and employment minister during Belgium’s 2024 Council presidency) negotiated the EU compromise. Amanda Brown (vice chair of the ILO Workers’ Group) represented trade-union interests at the ILO talks. Roberto Suarez Santos (secretary-general of the International Organisation of Employers) represented employer organisations.

Background

Platform-work regulation has moved from court disputes to formal rulemaking. The Council of the EU says the Commission proposed the EU Platform Work Directive on 9 December 2021, ministers reached a general approach on 12 June 2023, negotiators agreed a text on 8 February 2024 and the Council adopted it on 14 October 2024. Under Belgium’s Council presidency, Pierre-Yves Dermagne said the March 2024 compromise was the first EU legislation to regulate workplace algorithmic management. The World Bank’s 2023 report framed the wider issue as rapid growth paired with weak social protection, especially outside high-income labour markets.

Why now

The trigger is the closing day of the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva, where the ILO had placed decent work in the platform economy on the 2026 agenda and, according to the lead agencies, delegates adopted the convention on 12 June 2026.

OIS Intelligence

What to watch

Watch which countries ratify the ILO convention, how the ILO publishes the final convention and recommendation texts, and how EU member states transpose the 2024 Platform Work Directive. For Belgium, the practical signal will be federal draft legislation or guidance on employment presumption, platform reporting and algorithmic decisions.

Opposing perspectives

  1. ILO Workers’ Group

    The ILO Workers’ Group frames the convention as recognition that app-based workers should not fall outside basic labour law because a platform labels them self-employed. Amanda Brown’s intervention, as cited in the lead agencies, presents the standard as a response to documented exploitation and as a way to bring couriers, cleaners and care workers into enforceable international labour protection.

  2. International Organisation of Employers

    The International Organisation of Employers frames the convention’s value in its room for national flexibility. Roberto Suarez Santos’s reaction, as cited in the lead agencies, stresses that countries should be able to determine employment status through their own legal systems, rather than accepting a single global classification rule that could undermine legitimate self-employment or platform business models.

  3. EU member-state governments

    The Council of the EU’s 2024 compromise argues for a middle course: platforms should face a legal presumption of employment when facts show control and direction, but those triggering facts remain anchored in national law and collective agreements. That frame treats misclassification as real while preserving different labour-law systems across the EU.

  4. Platform companies

    The industry position reflected in the 2024 EU debate argues that fragmented national implementation can keep uncertainty high. Uber’s stated preference, reported during the EU compromise debate, was for national laws that protect platform workers while preserving the independence many workers say they value.

Sources & evidence