Abstract
This report is based on two surveys, a qualitative and a quantitative one, conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on request of the International Labour Office in September-December 2017. The surveys focused specifically on working conditions of online platform workers in Ukraine. Most of these workers refer to themselves as “freelancers”. They find work through digital labour platforms that is posted by clients from Ukraine and from other countries. The work can last from several minutes to several months; it is not classified legally as an employment relationship. This means that the working conditions of these “freelancers” remain outside the scope of labour regulation. The results of the survey show that digital labour platforms have transformed the modes of work and changed how work is viewed by both businesses and workers. Such transformations inevitably carry both a strong potential for benefiting the Ukrainian society, as well as risks. An understanding of such risks is important for designing policy responses that can enhance the benefits of the work transformation brought about by the platforms.