Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) postponed on Thursday (27) the resumption of a trial set to define whether app drivers and delivery workers have a formal employment relationship with digital platforms, a dispute known in Brazil as "uberização". According to the newspaper Correio do Povo, the full bench gave priority to the start of a trial on a provision of the Marco Civil da Internet, Brazil's internet framework law, and the app cases were left for a future session to be scheduled by the court's presidency.

The ruling will guide courts across the country and may affect about 1.7 million workers linked to service platforms and apps, according to G1. More than 10,000 lawsuits are pending while they wait for the court's position. At stake is whether companies such as Uber, 99 and iFood must register drivers and couriers under the CLT, Brazil's consolidated labor code.

Case timeline

• October 1, 2025: the trial opens in the full bench with oral arguments from the parties and is suspended before any votes are cast, according to Agência Brasil.
• May 29, 2026: STF president Edson Fachin schedules the resumption for June 24, as reported by Correio do Povo.
• June 24, 2026: the session is postponed after a request by the Labor Prosecutor's Office (MPT) and the Federal Public Defender's Office (DPU).
• August 26, 2026: the legal news site Migalhas reports that Fachin changed the docket and that the app employment cases would not open Thursday's session.
• August 27, 2026: the full bench starts the internet framework trial and postpones the "uberização" case once again.

On the docket are two appeals by platforms against Labor Court rulings that recognized employment ties. The first was filed by Uber against an understanding of the Superior Labor Court (TST) and is reported by Fachin. The second, by Rappi, challenges a decision of the Regional Labor Court of the 3rd Region, in Minas Gerais state, which recognized the employment tie of a motorcycle courier; that case is reported by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, according to Agência Brasil.

What each side alleges

Workers say platforms exercise supervision and that they follow the algorithm's commands, which set price, route, ranking and account blocking, a situation they argue amounts to an employment relationship. Labor courts have held that transport and delivery apps carry out the core activity of transport or logistics companies.

The companies say they only intermediate the provision of services and that there is no subordination to the platform, since workers choose their own hours and rides. Uber told the court it is a technology company, not a transport business, and that recognizing the employment tie would change the purpose of the business and violate the constitutional principle of free enterprise, according to Agência Brasil. Rappi argued that the labor rulings disregarded the Supreme Court's own precedents against a formal employment relationship with couriers.

The Prosecutor-General's Office (PGR) filed an opinion against recognizing the tie. The Attorney-General's Office (AGU), which represents the federal government, defended contractual protection for workers within an environment of technological innovation, and the MPT asked for a case-by-case analysis of the tie along with a minimum floor of rights, according to G1.

Outcomes under discussion

Behind the scenes, G1 reports, public statements and individual decisions by the justices point to a majority willing to reject the employment tie. The justices are also discussing an intermediate thesis recognizing minimum protections, such as a pay floor, a daily limit on connected hours, social security contributions and life insurance. Fachin has said the court needs to answer the question given its social impact and build a balanced and sensitive solution that protects workers while acknowledging new forms of work.

The debate includes the recently approved Convention 193 of the International Labour Organization (ILO), described as the first global pact on digital platforms. The norm sets minimum parameters such as freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, safe and healthy working conditions and pay compatible with each country's minimum standards.

With the postponement, the next procedural step is the inclusion of the cases in a new full-bench session, to be scheduled by the STF presidency; as of Thursday night, no new date had been announced. When the trial resumes, the first vote will come from the rapporteur, Edson Fachin, and the other justices may follow him, dissent or request more time to review the case.