Dutch staffing agency umbrella group ABU has urged the new government to make it clear what the rights and obligations of internet platforms such as Uber and Deliveroo to their workforce actually are.

Without action, a new underclass will develop in the labour market, made up of people who do piecemeal jobs without any rights, the organisation says.

‘These platforms operate in a Bermuda triangle in which the rights and duties of employers and workers have disappeared,’ ABU director Jurrien Koops told the Financieele Dagblad.

‘They bring together supply and demand, like staffing agencies, but unlike our members, they are barely regulated. They don’t pay social security premiums, their workers are uninsured and are not building up any pension. And in the end it is we, the rest of society, who pays.’

Deliveroo told the FD in a statement that it would like to offer its workers more security but that this is impossible given need for flexibility to meet the explosive demand. ‘We too want more certainty about how the platform economy can be regulated and we are looking forward to seeing concrete plans,’ a spokesman said.

On Thursday, ministers and experts will meet to discuss the implications of the ‘platform economy’.