9th Conference of the International Network on Digital Labor (INDL-9)
Geneva (Switzerland)
9-11 Sep 2026
Beyond the Black Box: A Comparative Analysis of Algorithmic Management Regulation in Latin America (Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay) and Lessons From the Global South
1 : Universidad Católica del Uruguay [Montevideo, Uruguay]
(UCU)
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Website Av. 8 de Octubre 2738, 11600 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay -
Uruguay
The spread of algorithmic management (AM) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) from platform work into the conventional economy risks undermining existing protective frameworks. In response, the European Union is positioning itself at the forefront of regulation, notably through the proposed Quality Jobs Act, which aims to secure the “human-in-control principle” and increase collective bargaining coverage. This contribution provides a critical, comparative assessment of regulatory attempts to control AM and its effects (such as the increased surveillance, work intensification, and opaque decision-making) in three Latin American jurisdictions: Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay. These countries represent distinct regulatory strategies: from specific platform-work statutes (Mexico and Chile) to jurisprudence and general labour law reform (Uruguay, as seen in the judicial classification of platform workers as dependent employees). The study asks: How effective are current Latin American regulatory models (those based on clarifying employment status versus those establishing rights for non-dependent workers) at ensuring algorithmic transparency and mitigating the precarity induced by algorithmic control? Using a socio-legal methodology, which analyses legal texts, jurisprudence, and real-world employment conditions (informed by Fairwork data, reports and emerging analytical documents on the implementation of Chilean, Mexican and Uruguayan Laws), the paper identifies two main insights: 1) Regulations focused primarily on clarifying employment status (as in some judicial interpretations) often fail to deliver comprehensive protection against core AM challenges, such as blurred working time and psychosocial risks. 2) Regulations that establish specific algorithmic transparency and data-access rights (regardless of employment status) provide a more direct, yet still constrained, avenue for workers to exert control over their labour conditions and foster collective action in fragmented workplaces. The main argument is that a successful framework, especially the proposed EU directive on algorithmic management at work, must move beyond mere classification toward robust algorithmic governance and state oversight. Inspired by the ILO's call for Member States to determine platform control conditions and ensure effective application (brown report on decent work in the platform economy), this requires integrating proactive, AM-specific safeguards (e.g., ex-ante testing for non-discrimination, prohibition of extractive uses that increase health and safety risks, and reinforcement of social and state inspection mechanisms) to address the structural power imbalance exacerbated by digital tools. These lessons from the Latin American testing ground are essential for preventing widespread deregulation and ensuring that the protective role of labor law and the supervisory function of the State evolve to meet digital innovation.
Subject :
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Abstract
Comment
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This submission is presented by Federico Rosenbaum Carli, PhD, Associate Professor at the Universidad Católica del Uruguay. The research integrates empirical evidence from the Fairwork Uruguay project, where I serve as a lead investigator. This contribution aims to bridge the gap between Latin American labor law and the international debate on algorithmic management. I am submitting this abstract under the 'Legacy Topics' stream, specifically regarding legal frameworks and institutional responses to platform labor.
Topics
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Legal frameworks, regulatory initiatives, and institutional responses
Keywords
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Algorithmic Management ; Platform Labor ; Labor Regulation ; Algorithmic Transparency ; Latin American Labor Law
