The labour market is undergoing an extensive transformation related to working. At best, the changed ways of working give many people new opportunities to perform work. However, there is a great deal of uncertainty and somewhat false information surrounding the phenomenon, concerning things like who is responsible for handling the statutory insurance and taxation for the work and notifications of potential business activities. The work revolution is an international phenomenon.
The work revolution continues to accelerate
In the labour market, the shift from traditional employment to various forms of self-employment continues to grow and is accompanied by a rise in abuses related to the phenomenon. For example, an existing employment relationship may be converted into an assignment relationship contrary to the actual circumstances with the intention of avoiding the employer’s obligations. Work commissioned by a client through an invoicing service may be part of the company’s basic business, in which the person performing the work is not in an employment relationship with the company.
At the same time, different domestic and foreign platform solutions have become more readily available in the market. A typical “light entrepreneur” using the services of an invoicing company is a self-employed person who offers a service, such as cleaning, transport, or construction, via a digital platform. They are often not listed in the prepayment register and do not have their own trade name. Their remuneration is typically based on the amount of work the person has carried out and does not require expensive investments in equipment. This kind of work can also be a person’s secondary work or a risk-free opportunity to test out a new business idea.
According to an estimate by the Finnish Centre for Pensions, in 2023, there were approximately 70,000 invoicing service users in Finland and the number of companies offering invoicing services had already climbed to 60. Due to inadequate statistics, the number of invoicing service users may be higher than estimated.
<h2>The platform economy offers a place in the market</h2>
<p>In the platform economy, work providers can use the digital platform to offer work to an unlimited customer base. The platform is essentially a place in the market. Different platforms operate based on distinct approaches and sets of rules for how work is transmitted and carried out. This way, they can be used to work in various positions, as an employee or entrepreneur. From the perspective of the employee’s position and the rights and obligations of the platform transmitting or commissioning the work, it is important to consider what the parties involved have agreed upon as well as whether the arrangement constitutes an employment relationship. These factors determine whether the platform has the obligations of an employer as laid down in the legislation on social welfare.</p>
<h2>Invoicing service companies manage statutory obligations on behalf of the light entrepreneur</h2>
<p>Invoicing service companies market the so-called light entrepreneurship as a kind of low-threshold path to entrepreneurship. The invoicing service manages matters related to invoicing and taxation on behalf of the light entrepreneur and pays compensation for work to the light entrepreneur. As a rule, taxes are managed centrally through the service, which reduces work that occurs in a grey area. There have been deficiencies in the insurance of work and the compensation invoiced to the client may not even have sufficed to cover the obligation related to insurance.</p>
<p>Invoicing service companies have increased and developed their service ranges and now offer more options to their customers. Several new invoicing service companies have joined the industry and, unfortunately, they have also included some companies with questionable activities which may, for example, market their service to employers as a way to circumvent their employer obligations. Some invoicing service providers also enable users to draw their income in virtual currency. Invoicing services are also used to circumvent a ban on business operations, as a light entrepreneur is primarily considered a wage earner instead of an entrepreneur in taxation.</p>
<h2>The sharing economy involves exchanging goods and services for compensation</h2>
<p>In the sharing economy, anyone can share their free or underused resource with others for compensation through a digital platform. The platform is maintained professionally, but private individuals typically use the platform to provide their time, services or assets in a non-professional manner. Uncertain interpretations related to the employer status are similar to other parts of the platform economy.</p>
Changed ways of working pose challenges for official monitoring measures
The changed ways of working create challenges for the authorities when it comes to interpreting whether work is being carried out by an employee or an entrepreneur according to the current legislation. It is not always easy to distinguish between the two, and there are plenty of challenges in interpretation although decisions made by different public authorities have also been resolved at different court instances. In some situations, authorities have different interpretations of a person’s legal position. That said, authorities also collaborate when investigating individual cases related to the status of employers. At the same time, new phenomena are emerging, including the use of partnerships for activities similar to invoicing services that involve ambiguities related to both the interpretation of the nature of the employment relationship or contractual relationship and the nature of the income paid to individuals.
Information on investigating the grey economy and economic crime is also increasingly fragmented. The examination of responsibilities has become more difficult because a single set of operations may involve several contracting parties which may not share an understanding of the state of affairs. The relationship between the individual performing the work and the client is not evident, for example, in the Incomes Register notifications submitted by the invoicing service. The resulting lack of transparency poses challenges to public authorities in carrying out monitoring.
Communication about the employers’ and entrepreneurs’ obligations set by employment, social welfare and taxation legislation is the most effective way to prevent the grey economy.
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