Guest Editorial. The Labour Side of the Metaverse

Abstract

The contribution purports to map the regulatory issues of Metaverse work. After a brief overview of the origin and of the function(s) of the virtual space known as the Metaverse, the Author distinguishes the case of “Ancillary Meta-Work” (which occurs when Metaverse work is just the supplement of a regular working activity carried out in the employer’s premises or even remotely in the non-virtual world) from the case of “Pure Meta-Work” (which occurs when the working activity is entirely carried out in the Metaverse): whilst the former is simply the evolution and the further progress of remote working and it thus requires only a – yet, delicate – adjustment of the relevant policies, the latter poses more serious challenges to the extant labor regulation, ranging from the identification of the applicable law(s) to the recognition of the protective urges arising from a working performance which, despite its virtual dimension and actors (Avatars), involves, as always, the provision of (human) labor.