This is a concept that has emerged in the discussion about the gig economy, the click workers and the subcontractors of subcontractors. Are platforms like UBER employers? Are UBER and Deliveroo drivers self-employed and have to pay for their own social insurance?
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“The idea is revolutionary. It means nothing less than a complete change of the social insurance system, a paradigm shift from the status quo: No longer does the employer pay the social insurance contributions for the providers of work, but directly the one who consumes it. After all, he is basically the “employer” in the true sense of the word. It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine that this system could simply be applied to many service jobs in the gig economy. If you order a package from Amazon, a social insurance item for the driver commissioned by the logistics company could be debited directly with the invoice. If you order your food from Deliveroo, you automatically pay a few cents for the bicycle courier’s pension.”
– Anette Dowideit in her book “The Counted – When we can no longer live from our work”, Social Security System 4.0, page 231, Campus Verlag
