Transformation of the Legal Status of Employee and Employer within Digital Platforms: A Theoretical and Applied Study

The development of platform employment and the introduction of algorithmic management
lead to the destruction of the traditional legal status of the worker. Platforms position themselves as
information intermediaries, classifying performers as independent contractors, which causes mass
precarization of labor, deprivation of social guarantees, and a legal vacuum in protecting citizens'
rights.
Theoretical and legal analysis of the transformation of the status of platform employment
subjects and the development of conceptual recommendations for modernizing the labor legislation of
the Republic of Kazakhstan, taking into account the best practices of the European Union.
The study applied a comprehensive methodological approach, including dialectical, systemic,
formal-legal, and comparative-legal methods. The empirical base consisted of international acts,
including EU Directive 2024/2831, ILO, and UN documents.
It has been proven that the civil law model of regulating platform employment prevailing in
Kazakhstan does not reflect the power asymmetry of relations and legalizes fictitious selfemployment. It has been established that algorithmic management is a new form of hidden employer
control.
The critical need to abandon the rigid "worker-independent contractor" dichotomy is
substantiated. The implementation of the European model into the Labor Code of the Republic of
Kazakhstan is proposed: the legislative consolidation of a rebuttable presumption of an employment
relationship for platform workers and the introduction of strict norms of algorithmic transparency.
These measures will ensure a balance between digital innovations and the protection of the right to
decent work.