Fairwork is an action-research project coordinated by the Oxford Internet Institute and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. Through a global network of researchers, Fairwork evaluates working conditions on digital labour platforms and ranks them based on five principles of fair work:
- Fair Pay
- Fair Conditions
- Fair Contracts
- Fair Management
- Fair Representation
The five Principles of Fairwork were developed through an extensive literature review of published research on job quality, stakeholder meetings in Geneva (involving platform operators, policymakers, trade unions, and academics), and in-country meetings with local stakeholders. Globally, Fairwork collaborates closely with workers, platforms, advocates, and policymakers to envision and build a fairer future of work. Fairwork currently operates in 38 countries across 5 continents. View the list of collaborating institutions.
Additional to location-based platforms, Fairwork also evaluates cloudwork platforms. Cloudwork is work that can be performed online from anywhere in the world. This includes small tasks like filling in surveys and training AI systems, to professional freelance services like translation, website development or design. We rate major global cloudwork platforms in line with a separate set of principles for online remote work.