The virtual space of the Metaverse and the fiddly identification of the applicable labor law

Abstract

The paper deals with the puzzling identification of the applicable labor law in the event of Metaverse Work. Stemming from the distinction between a working activity just occasionally performed in the Metaverse (“Ancillary Meta-Work”) and a working activity entirely performed in the virtual dimension (“Pure Meta-Work”), the Authors observe that the former case is simply the evolution and the further progress of remote working and it thus requires only a – yet, delicate – adjustment of the relevant policies. Conversely, the latter case poses a serious challenge in relation to the identification of the applicable law, considering that the conflict-of-law rules hardly conform to a “space-less” sphere.