Gig Economy Workers Need More Protection Of Their Rights

Context: As the gig economy take off, its workers need stringent legal protection measures.

Age of platform economics

• Flipkart-Walmart combination expected to generate 10 million jobs in India.
• In 2020, a report from the Ola Mobility Institute said that bike taxis had the potential to create two million jobs in India.
• After Zomato’s unicorn share market listing, theirs is surge in employment as it connects 32 million hungry users to 170,000 restaurants and kitchens every month across 500 cities of India.

Issues with gig economy employment

• Non-stable and insecure jobs: These so-called jobs do not provide health insurance, nor pay for overtime, let alone allow you to take sick leave.
• Biased power balance: There is usually no room for wage negotiations, and unions are mostly unheard of or absent.
• Over-dependence: As there all sectors are becoming platform businesses, traditional options are winding up.
• No employer-employee relationship: Gig workers often serve as independent contractors. Thus, is not covered by conventional safeguards, which only apply to labour contracts.
• Exploitation: Cab driver/entrepreneur having to work 14 hours to make just enough to survive. 

Conclusion: In the present context, labour market reforms need to protect workers, not jobs. Gig workers are to be defined as labourer and not just contractors or partners.