Beyond the Business Model: Why Pay Floors for Gig Workers Demand Awareness

In our webinar, ‘Living, Not Surviving’, we explored how minimum pay standards for self-employed platform workers could be calculated and implemented, and why companies, workers, and clients all play a role.

Why is the conversation about pay for self-employed workers more urgent than ever?

Pay floors are largely institutionalised for employees through Minimum Wages, collective bargaining, and Living Wages standards. These methods, however, do not apply to the self-employed workers. Despite accounting for nearly half of the global workforce, self-employed workers are often overlooked in discussions about pay and have limited protection. Building on this, we organised the webinar 'Living: Not Surviving'. Its primary goal was to demonstrate and discuss how to calculate a pay floor for self-employed gig and platform workers and how to make it a reality.

Employee or self-employed: why is there a distinction?

In the debate around pay, every worker deserves a pay that meets their needs. This was the starting point of the conversation initiated by Paulien Osse, co-founder of WageIndicator, and moderated by the independent researcher Martijn Arets. While this may sound obvious, the reality is often different: “If you are self-employed or a gig worker, you have to negotiate for yourself”, Osse stressed. WageIndicator's work on calculating decent wages began with employees and Living Wages, but has since been expanded to include the self-employed. As we write, the Living Tariff, a methodology based on Living Wages to calculate a minimum hourly rate based on costs of living and expenses, has been launched in six countries.

What challenges arise when discussing pay for self-employed workers?

“During our study in Texas and in other countries, workers reported that wages were generally low and often quite unpredictable”, said Lena Simet, Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch. “For example, in Texas, we found that people earn an hourly pay of $5.12, which is around 30% below the federal minimum wage in the United States. Workers may spend 30-40 per cent of their time waiting for orders. This is working time, not leisure time. There are days or weeks when they don't make any money. Yet 70% of their earnings go towards expenses.”

In this context, the potential impact of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention and Recommendation on Decent Work in the Platform Economy could be significant. Zuzanna Muskat-Gorska, Legal Officer at the International Trade Union Confederation, joined the conversation to analyse the challenges faced by workers without employment contracts and to outline the key points of the Convention. She also reminds us that according to the principle of non-discrimination, everyone should be entitled to a decent living regardless of their contract type.

Zuzanna Muskat-Gorska, International Trade Union Confederation

Human Rights Watch has also submitted a briefing containing proposals to strengthen the ILO draft ahead of the final negotiations in 2026. “What's been really interesting in the negotiations”, added Lena Simet, “is the classification question around what constitutes a worker, as well as the debate around fair pay. What obligations should companies have?”

Which costs and risks should be factored into a pay floor for self-employed workers?

Self-employed and gig workers frequently engage in unpaid activities that are essential for earning a living: “It's about how platforms organise and value work”, said Valeria Pulignano of KU Leuven. “Workers spend time waiting, searching for tasks and coordinating across different jobs. All of this ultimately translates into what we normally call work extensification, so working longer.”

“Unpaid time and extra costs are there, and everyone who can have a say should be aware of that”, Daniela Ceccon of WageIndicator confirmed. The Living Tariff was developed to convert equipment, tax and social security costs into monetary values. This enables workers to calculate a more sustainable hourly rate. But the Living Tariff is not exclusively for workers: “It could be a valid system for companies to check if they are paying their workers enough, for trade unions to negotiate better rates, and for policymakers to discuss labour rights.”

How can calculations and estimates be translated into actual pay floors for workers?

Milen van Boldrik of the Dutch Association of Journalists (NJV) shared the process that led to the introduction of a legally mandated minimum tariff for self-employed journalists. A couple of years ago, they negotiated a collective agreement and suggested a tariff based on cost calculations: “Freelance journalists should earn at least 170% of the wage received by employees. This additional 70% is necessary to cover all their additional costs.”

Pay is also one of the issues covered by the Code of Conduct developed by the Kenyan Data Labelers Association. Ephantus Kanyugi, the vice-president and a data worker himself, shed light on the exploitation of labour within the global AI economy: “Tech companies outsource data work to the Global South because they are looking for cheap labour. They don’t consider the costs workers incur, such as the need for laptops with certain requirements, work desks, and internet access. The Code of Conduct is an attempt to establish a standard that is equitable for employers but fair for workers.”

Further factors beyond the pay floors should be considered. Echoing previous speakers on the unpaid labor in platform work, Tianling Yang, a doctoral researcher at the Weizenbaum Institute and Technische Universität Berlin, discussed common challenges such as unpaid training, rework, mass rejection and payment methods such as gift cards experienced by workers. She added that "it is important to raise public awareness," and pointed out platforms can "benefit from keeping workers' conditions and their actual pay hidden". Clients should also be involved and take active steps to address the problems, instead of merely blaming the platforms. "In the data work context, the low pay is also about the extraction of labor and value in the global AI value chain."

Although research aimed at raising awareness is growing, the question remains: clients may need to increase their budget and research relevant Living Wage standards and platforms’ payment policies. Are they willing to do that?

To conclude

By bringing together this diverse group of speakers and attendees, we have made an effort to take the discussion about pay floors for self-employed workers a step further.

In the coming time, we will be undertaking more activities on this topic in an effort to contribute to raising awareness of the need for decent working conditions for all workers.