Unfair deactivation for regulated workers

You are protected by law from unfair deactivation if:

• you are an employee-like worker, and
• you perform work:
  • through or by means of a digital labour platform operated by a digital labour platform operator, or
  • under a services contract arranged or managed (facilitated) through a digital labour platform operated by a digital labour platform operator, and
• you have been working regularly for at least 6 months (from 26 August 2024).

Note: work performed before the laws start on 26 August 2024 does not count towards the 6 months.

Employee-like workers may perform paid work through a digital labour platform. They are not employees. To be an employee-like worker they must have at least 2 of the following:

• low bargaining power
• pay at or below the rate received by an employee doing similar work  
• a low degree of authority over the performance of work. 

You have been deactivated from a digital labour platform if:

• you performed digital platform work through a digital labour platform
• the digital labour platform operator changed, suspended, or terminated your access to the digital labour platform, and
• you are no longer able to perform work under a services contract.

To decide if your deactivation is unfair we will think about (consider):

• whether there was a good (valid) reason for the deactivation because you could not do the job (capacity) or you behaved badly (conduct)
• whether any processes in the Digital Labour Platform Deactivation Code were followed, and
• anything else that we think is relevant.

A deactivation that occurs because of serious misconduct is not unfair.

A deactivation is not unfair if:

• the deactivation is a change or suspension of your access to the digital labour platform for 7 business days or less, and
• we believe (are satisfied) that the digital labour platform operator had good reason (reasonable grounds) to believe that:
  • it was necessary to protect the health and safety of a user of the digital labour platform or members of the community
  • you behaved fraudulently or dishonestly (you cheated or lied)
  • you don’t have the right license or accreditation
  • the deactivation happened so the digital labour platform could investigate a reason listed above, or to refer any of the above matters to a law enforcement agency (like the Police).

The Digital Labour Platform Deactivation Code was made by the Minister on 3 December 2024.

If we decide that:

• you are protected by law from unfair deactivation, and
• you have been unfairly deactivated

we may order that the digital labour platform operator reactivate you.

The order may say the digital labour platform operator must restore you to the position you were in before the deactivation, including by removing any suspension, termination or change (modification).

We may also make an order for the digital platform operator to pay you any money you lost because of the deactivation.

We cannot order that you be paid compensation instead of reactivation and lost pay.