At first glance, the term employee seems clearly defined. A person signs a contract, receives a salary, and works either in an office or from home. As digital technologies become more deeply embedded in companies, however, these boundaries are increasingly blurred. Platform-based work, solo self-employed professionals with a single main client, and the growing use of automation are all forcing a reassessment of who qualifies as an employee and which rights come with that status.
What digitally organized work looks like
Digital work no longer takes place solely at a traditional office desk. Project management tools, collaborative platforms, and remote access enable teams to work efficiently across time zones. In these setups, not only permanent employees are involved, but also freelancers, service providers, and external specialists who are not employees in the legal sense.
At the same time, new organizational models are emerging. Companies are increasingly using AI-supported systems to automate routine tasks, generate analyses, and prepare workflows. Some start-ups are experimenting with the idea of a Superhuman team of AI Employees, where software agents structure accounting processes, handle support requests, or analyse data. Human staff then focus more on reviewing results, making decisions, and taking responsibility. When implemented well, this model can lead to significant efficiency gains.
This raises the question of how to define the status of people working in such hybrid teams. They are often less tied to fixed working hours, complete tasks in sprints or on a project basis, yet still operate in a form of dependence on a client that resembles traditional employment.
When is someone legally considered an employee?
From a legal perspective, the concept of an employee is still tied to specific, clearly defined criteria. Across many jurisdictions, courts generally classify a person as an employee when there is personal dependence.
Key factors include being subject to instructions, being integrated into another organization's work structure, and bearing only limited economic risk. Anyone who works according to set guidelines, uses provided work equipment, and is organizationally embedded in a company is typically regarded as an employee.
The boundary between employment and self-employment, however, is becoming increasingly unclear. The debate around so-called “false self-employment” highlights this issue. According to rulings by labor courts, factors such as the freedom to organize working hours, the ability to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, and having multiple clients are considered.
Digital platforms create particularly complex situations. Drivers or delivery couriers, for example, are formally self-employed but rely on an app that allocates jobs, defines routes, and calculates pay. The more control such systems exert, the closer these roles come to traditional employee status.
What do platform work, the gig economy, and hybrid roles mean?
The so-called gig economy, in which tasks are broken down into small units and assigned via digital platforms, has created entirely new categories of workers. According to a 2023 analysis by Germany’s Institute for Employment Research (IAB), around 3 percent of the workforce in Germany used platforms to find work, such as delivery services, microtasks, or creative assignments.
Some of these individuals have a primary job subject to social security contributions and use platform work only as a secondary activity.
Hybrid roles are becoming particularly common in this context. A software developer, for instance, may be permanently employed while also taking on project-based programming work via a platform, setting their own prices there. In their employment contract, they are subject to company instructions; in platform work, they act as an entrepreneur. Legally, they are classified as an employee in the first case and as self-employed in the second, even though both involve digital work from an external perspective.
- Platform workers who operate continuously for a single client tend to move closer to employee status.
- Individuals with many changing clients, their own marketing, and genuine entrepreneurial risk remain more firmly within the realm of self-employment.
For companies, this creates the need to define employee roles precisely. Incorrect classification can result in back payments of social security contributions or liability issues, which already play a role in labor court disputes.
AI in everyday work: when software becomes a colleague
AI-driven automation represents a new evolutionary stage in internal business processes. In customer service, chatbots pre-qualify inquiries; in marketing, algorithms generate initial text drafts or complete messages; in industry, sensor systems evaluate machine data. Responsibility for the results, however, remains with humans, who interpret the data, give approvals, and ultimately remain accountable.
From a regulatory standpoint, AI systems are not considered employees, as there is neither personal dependence nor a need for social protection. Nevertheless, they have a direct impact on workforce planning and task distribution. Companies shift responsibilities, create new roles in areas such as data analysis or prompt engineering, and train staff to work effectively with these systems.
A look at labor law practice shows that works councils and management teams are increasingly negotiating company agreements on the introduction of AI systems.
