Working paper – Freitas Júnior and Silva – LLRN 2019, Valparaiso, Chile 1 OUTLINES ON LABOR REGULATION IN THE FIELD OF THE PLATFORM SERVICES: SOME NOTES CONSIDERING THE CLASSIFICATION LITIGATION IN BRAZILIAN LABOR COURTS 1 Antonio Rodrigues de Freitas Junior 2 Victor Raduan da Silva 3 Abstract: In April 2016, The Guardian elected Uber the most highly valued private startup in the world, and reported that the business had paid out almost USD 162 million to settle pending lawsuits since its foundation in 2009. The most populous city in South America and Brazil, São Paulo, is where Uber has the highest number of users, with 150 thousand drivers working daily, as published by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo in April 2018. Recently, the 15 th Panel of the Regional Labor Court of the 2 nd Region (TRT 2) – with its main office in São Paulo – has rendered a decision stating there is an employment relationship between Uber and a driver, as the driver does not have “true autonomy” and must respect the code of conduct established by Uber. This decision shows the debates that still arise in TRT 2 on classification litigation regarding the company, due to a decision rendered in December 2017 by the 8 th Panel – the first one addressing the theme – that denied the employment relationship in a similar case. And this is just an example of what happens throughout Brazil, since there is no specific law regulating platform-based work in the country. To what extent and by which means does Uber enforce its directive powers over its drivers? Upon analyzing the disputes – with particular focus on the employment classification litigation – involving Uber and other app-based services, this paper aims to draft possible regulatory strategies to improve adequate legal protection provided to workers in their asymmetrical relationship with platforms, beyond its mere classification as employment. Keyword: regulation strategies; platform worker; on-demand service; classification litigation; Labor Courts. 1 We thank Homero Batista, Professor of Law at USP, for the useful texts he has recommended to us. Some of the questions of this paper were debated in another one, called “Regulating work in platform services: legal protection and classification litigation considering recent decisions from Brazilian Labor Courts.” It was presented in the Law and Society Association (LSA) Annual Meeting 2019, which took place in Washington D.C., USA, from May 30 th to June 2 nd . 2 Professor of Law. Department of Labor Law and Social Security, Faculty of Law, University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. E-mail: arfreit@usp.br. 3 Master’s student (2016 - present). Department of Labor Law and Social Security, Faculty of Law, University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. E-mails: victor.raduan.silva@usp.br; victor.raduansilva@gmail.com.