The government has announced new plans to combat so-called fictitious self-employment — a practice in which employers classify employees as self-employed to avoid providing them with entitled benefits, insurance contributions, and labor guarantees. According to the reform's initiators, such schemes affect hundreds of thousands of workers who are actually employed under conditions similar to regular employment but lack corresponding legal protections. The new measures involve stricter control over worker classification and the introduction of clearer criteria to distinguish genuine self-employment from fictitious arrangements. These changes are expected to affect more than 900,000 people who will be able to gain access to labor rights, including paid leave, minimum wage, and social guarantees previously unavailable to them due to their formal status. Reform supporters note that the practice of false self-employment has long been used by some companies to reduce personnel costs at the expense of workers who actually perform the duties of full-time employees. The introduction of new rules is viewed as a step toward restoring fairness in the labor market and protecting vulnerable categories of workers from exploitation. Details on the timeline for the changes taking effect and the mechanisms for monitoring compliance with the new rules are still being clarified.