USCIB Concludes Negotiation of a New Global Labor Law at the International Labour Organization
June 12, 2026, New York, NY—The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) supports the new international treaty on platform work that was adopted in Geneva today. This is the first-ever global normative framework, which governments will use to set their own labor laws on gig work at the national level.
Following negotiations over the last two weeks, an agreement was reached between the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) tripartite constituents – business, workers, and governments; the Treaty affirms that employment classification is up to each Member State and that independent contractors can continue to exist. A presumption of employment, which exists in the European Platform Work Directive, was firmly rejected.
USCIB’s Ewa Staworzynska, Director, Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs (CRLA), the lead negotiator on behalf of global business, underscored that the completion of the ILO’s Committee’s work was a major milestone in global labor law.
“The Treaty is the result of hard-fought negotiations, and we are pleased to have reached a principle-based Convention that explicitly recognizes that the platform economy includes self-employed workers. It is a great achievement that respect for existing national classification laws and the rightful distinction between the self-employed and employees can remain,” Staworzynska stated.
The Treaty is also the first of its kind as it pertains to the overlap of technology governance and labor legislation, which could have resulted in extensive new expectations pertaining to algorithmic management, but it resulted in a more practical and implementable approach to automated decision-making systems. “The Standard effectively balances protections for workers and protections for businesses’ commercially sensitive information, which is vital given increased policy pressures related to technology,” Staworzynska added.
The Treaty will go into effect a year after the ratification threshold of two countries has been met. It will be legally binding within countries that ratify.
About USCIB
The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) powers the success of US business across the globe. Our members include US-based companies and professional services firms from every sector of the economy, with operations in every region of the world. As the US affiliate of leading international business organizations including Business at OECD (BIAC), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and the International Organization of Employers (IOE), USCIB advances the US business perspective to policymakers and regulatory authorities worldwide and works to facilitate commerce, support sustainable development, and build trust in multilateral systems. USCIB is also the national guaranteeing and issuing association for ATA Carnets, a unified international customs document that allows for the temporary import and export of various types of goods into a foreign country without paying duties or taxes. Learn more at www.uscib.org.