Sharing economy is not a legally defined term. It is an umbrella term that includes many online platforms. In addition to sharing economy, other terms are also used, for example, the collaborative economy, gig economy, on demand economy and platform economy. There are more and more people looking for work through work platforms, opening up a number of legal issues. Research show that work through such platforms is uncertain, characterized by low profits. Participants are mostly self-employed and are usually excluded from the social security system.
The inclusion of self-employed persons in social security systems differs in the EU Member States, with a small proportion of countries (including Slovenia) in which self-employed persons are included in all social insurance. Even when self-employed persons are included in social insurance, their access to rights can be limited, since social security systems are not adapted to newer forms of work, which is all the more true for participants in the sharing economy. They are persons in employment; therefore they should be included in the social security system, regardless of their status. Any work, regardless of its type and extent, could be taken as the basis for social security and any income, regardless of its source, could be taken into account for the contribution base.
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