On 12 March 2026, Stonebridge Legal partnered with the Labour Law and Labour Disputes annual conference organised by Pravo.ru. The business programme focused on new court rulings that continue to reshape corporate strategies and approaches to personnel management in 2026.
Denis Bushnev, Counsel and Head of Employment Law and Data Protection Practice at Stonebridge Legal, contributed to a discussion on the differences and similarities between platform employment and traditional employment, offering an analysis of one of the most complex issues in the modern labour market.
At the heart of the discussion was a situation that has become a reality in many industries: a company engages contractors via digital platforms to carry out regular tasks in IT, marketing, logistics, or customer support. Formally, these individuals work as self-employed or independent contractors, without an employment contract or social guarantees, which gives rise to a number of legal risks.
The speaker paid particular attention to the issue of motivation and additional benefits for freelance contractors. Commenting on the practice of providing insurance, access to knowledge bases, and partner programmes (as seen, for example, in taxi services), Denis stressed:
"There are platforms, such as Yandex Taxi, which offer their top drivers free insurance and other benefits, such as access to a knowledge base, partner programmes and discount cards. Many perceive such measures as giving rise to the risk of the relationship between the platform and its drivers being reclassified as employment. In my view, the risk here is minimal as these are market-based commercial products. I would rather consider such measures a safe way of providing incentives. However, each such case must still be assessed individually."
Stonebridge Legal thanks the organisers and participants for a productive dialogue and continues to monitor legislative developments, helping clients build robust strategies for managing human capital in the era of digital platforms.
Read more about the conference in the final report on Pravo.ru.