Critical Analysis of the Gig Workers’ Employment Classification and Third Employment Proposal

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• In recent years, the term ‘gig labour’ has exploded due to the emergence of digital platforms. While some parties value the platform’s flexibility and services, there is a strong assertion that it engages in discriminatory and unethical practises, such as unfair suspensions and unfair fees, among others. Regardless, the digital labour platform has disrupted the labour market, and governments around the globe are deciding how to intervene most effectively.

• With some court cases determining that gig workers are employees and others determining that gig workers remain independent contractors, there is confusion regarding the landscape of gig work. Simultaneously, many, including the European Union, have called for a directive to investigate the employment status of allegedly misclassified workers with some researchers recommending introducing a third category of employment. Contradictory definitions of gig workers and a lack of consensus on the typology of the digital labour platform are, however, one of the greatest obstacles to investigating the issues.
  
• This paper examines the term “gig work” and proposes that the term “digital labour platform” to be used across ministries together with an agreed typology of the digital labour platform. The typology proposed differentiates two main categories of digital labour platform; location-based and web-based.  Under the location-based platform category, I introduced the matrix that combines the subcategory of access that platforms have (asset and labour) with the strength of the employer-employee relationship based on the existing literature.
  
  
• This will serve as a guide for policymakers to comprehend the nature of various platforms, allowing them to prioritise and modify their approach depending on the platform. The proposal for a third employment category and reclassification of employment status risk many limitations, as it is incompatible with the nature of platforms that are multi-sectoral and comprise workers coming for various reasons, some of whom want full protection and others who want to remain flexible. This is further complicated by the fact that employees work with multiple intermediaries simultaneously.
  
  
• The proposal is for the government to develop a Digital Labour Platform Act that allows for sectoral collaboration while outlining the principles that platforms must strictly adhere to in several common areas, including algorithmic transparency, workers’ rights to explanation and dispute, minimum standards and protections, and collective bargaining and representation. The government can take a multi-pronged approach by incentivizing companies to self-regulate by only supporting platforms with fair practises and allowing workers to choose full-time work with different contracts, while also enforcing tight rules such as penalising platforms with high discriminatory practises. Even though the paper is limited to the principles of policy recommendations and approach, it is important to recognise it as a conceptual framework to guide policymakers as they specify the regulations.
  
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