Obstacles and Opportunities for Implementing the Platform Work Directive: Focus on Work Classification and the Presumption of Employment in Serbia

This paper analyses the challenges and opportunities that Serbia can expect when implementing the EU’s new Platform Work Directive, with a particular focus on provisions related to worker classification and the presumption of employment. It addresses the question: What practical issues might arise when trying to implement these rules at the national level? The study employs a qualitative methodology, combining legal and institutional analysis with desk research and semi-structured interviews to address the research question. It examines the existing legal framework related to work classification, freelancing, and employment status in Serbia, and compares it to the requirements of the EU Platform Work Directive. In addition, four semi-structured interviews were conducted with a diverse group of stakeholders, namely researchers on platform work and EU enlargement and socio-economic gap, an employment law practitioner and a National Employment Service of Serbia representative. Interviews were held between May and June 2025 and lasted between 45 and 90 minutes. Participants were selected based on their direct involvement in or knowledge of platform work regulation and labor policy.
Although Serbia is not required to adopt the Directive right away, aligning with the EU labor rules is an important part of its EU accession process. So far, there has not been any concrete move toward implementation, but the topic is slowly entering the public conversation. In Serbia, platform work is predominantly digital and export-oriented, with many workers engaged in online freelancing, especially in IT, creative services, and customer support. Serbia ranks among the top countries globally in terms of the share of the workforce active on online labor platforms, which makes this form of work central to its digital economy.1
Therefore, it is highly relevant in Serbia, not only due
to the significant number of workers involved, but also because a big portion of these
workers represents a vital source of knowledge, innovation, experience, and
entrepreneurial potential. Most of these workers do not have standard employment
contracts, meaning they often miss out on basic protection. The Directive could change
that, but that will not happen without complications.

1. Ana Milinković, Mapping Platform Work in Serbia: Background Paper, (Europeum, 2025), https://cep.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/SERBIA.pdf.