Lo scritto è la rielaborazione dell’introduzione al Convegno, co-organizzato con la SSM e con il supporto del Gruppo Freccia Rossa, che si è svolto all’Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia il 24 gennaio 2020. Il testo, in una versione ulteriormente rivista, è di prossima pubblicazione nella Collana “Il nuovo diritto del lavoro”, Giappichelli editore.

The distinction between employment contract and self-employment is examined in this essay in the light of the most recent Italian legislative innovations, with food for thought also of a comparative nature. The Italian law on "collaborations organized by the client" (art. 2, co.1, Legislative Decree no. 81/2015, as amended by law no. 128/2019) opens a new chapter of the long-standing question on borders of subordinate work and the scope of labor law. Even if it concerns self-employment figures, the law "assimilates" these collaborators to subordinate workers, extending the protection of labor law to them. Law no. 128/2019 also grants new rights to the self-employed workers of the digital platforms that carry out home delivery of goods in urban areas. It is an innovative and worthy law, which guarantees platform workers "minimal" protection, without excluding higher protection if these workers are classified as subordinate or hetero-organized.