Gig Work and the Qualification Dilemma: From the Judicial to the Theoretical Approach

The digital era has been changing employment relationships dramatically, so much that a certain inadequacy is manifesting in the same founding categories of labour law, such as the contract of employment and its scope. The chapter aims to analyze the case law available on the gig economy and the (mis)classification of work, in a comparative perspective (Uk, Spain, Italy) which will draw similarities (and obstacles) on the more general need to respond to the gig economy workers’ protection. Ultimately, case law can help questioning whether the legal concept of juridical subordination and its main elements can govern the new forms of employment in the context of the gig economy.