ON THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT OF VULNERABLE GROUPS OF WORKERS

Abstract

Introduction: the article is devoted to the current and future impact of digital technologies, thanks to which remote work and location-based platform employment have emerged, and also the impact of artificial intelligence technologies and neurotechnologies on the labor relations that involve vulnerable groups of workers, including legal relations in the field of employment. Purpose: to describe approaches to the understanding of vulnerability in economics, sociology, and legal science, to trace the impact of digi-tal technologies on labor and employment of vulnerable groups, and to identify issues and risks. Methods:the methodological basis of the research consists of universal, general scientific methods as well as some special methods (system-structural, formal-legal, comparative legal methods). Results: vulnerability is correlated with poverty, and both monetary and non-monetary approaches to the phenomenon of po-verty are described; vulnerability is considered in the context of the concept of social exclusion, which fo-cuses on the breakdown of social ties. From a legal perspective, the approach applied in the study is based on the assumption that vulnerability of an individual or social group is associated with a higher (compared to others) risk of becoming a victim of human rights violations, including being limited in the ability to exercise the rights and freedoms guaranteed to everyone. The perceptions of vulnerability de-velop primarily in international law. At the national level, vulnerability of certain social groups is inter-branch in nature, which is manifested in exemptions and preferences established for them by both pri-vate and public branches of law. In Russian labor law, the term ‘vulnerable groups’ is not used, although, in actual fact, it forms the basis for differentiating the legal regulation of labor of certain categories of workers. The differentiation of the legal status of vulnerable groups is associated with the manifestation of the compensatory function of the welfare state. Conclusions: the use of digital technologies does not automatically bring advantages and benefits to vulnerable groups, but in the absence of adequate regu-lation can greatly increase social inequality and discrimination. It is advisable to develop the legal regula-tion of remote work performed by vulnerable groups of workers toward internal differentiation, taking into account their specific needs. Rights and guarantees, at least in the field of occupational safety and health, should be progressively extended to those employed on location-based platforms. It is necessary to include location-based workers in social insurance systems; provide them with an expanded range of rights and guarantees in the world of work. The risks of artificial intelligence, neurotechnologies, and workplace automation being introduced are currently associated with the deepening and scaling of dis-crimination, as well as with an imperceptible replacement of labor relations by precarious employment, which may affect vulnerable groups of workers the most. The paper proposes directions for improving legal regulation in this area. An assumption is made that the mass introduction of neurotechnology in the future will change the understanding of the nature of vulnerability and its criteria.

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