The L20 Side event: Worker’s Rights and Social Protection in Digital Platform

Digital labour platform is a game-changer in many sectors reshaping labour relations and the future of work. The ILO classified it into two broad categories: online web-based (tasks performed online or remotely by workers, such as translation, design, or programming) and location-based platforms (tasks carried out in specified physical locations by workers, such as food delivery, home services, or domestic work). G20 countries represents 79% of the platform operating around the world but largely concentrated in the US (37%), EU (22%), India (10%) and UK (6%). The global distributions of investment are geographically uneven; about 96% of the investment is concentrated in Asia (USD 56billion), compared to only 4% (USD 4 billion) in Latin America and Africa. For some workers, working on digital platforms is the main source of income, for some others, lack of alternative employment opportunities and job flexibility are the key motivating factors.

Working conditions are largely regulated by terms of service agreements and unfair algorithmic management to define workers performance, rating, and reputation. Working hours vary across location-based platforms and online web-based platforms, skills mismatch and qualifications acquired through formal education, and difficult to organize and exercise collective bargaining. Large number of workers in digital platform don’t cover by social security such as health insurance and work-related injury provision, unemployment and disability insurance, and retirement benefits. Many workers particularly in the location-based platform, such as in delivery sectors, face various occupational safety and health risks, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ILO global analysis of worker protest in digital labor platforms found that the cause of platform workers protest is mainly about pay, followed by employment status, and safe and healthy environment.

The Issue Note adopted by the Labour20 Indonesia this year on ‘Extending Employment Protection to Digital Platform Workers’, highlighting the important issue of digital platform workers status which makes them not to be covered by existing labour law and therefore lack of protection regarding minimum wage, working hours, social security, disputes settlement, rights to organize and collective bargaining. Therefore, the L20 Indonesia called the G20 to effectively implementing international labour standards and social protection for digital platform workers regardless of their status, as an important part of new social contract.

The L20 Side event workshop on digital platform facilitated by INSP!R Asia, in cooperation with ACV International and ITUC, was an effort to have a global social dialogue to address the urgent needs of workers in digital labor platform to ensuring the implementation of the International Labor Standards and social protection; requiring the government, platform and their clients to respect them. The workshop examined some opportunities and challenges faced by digital platform workers from 4 different continents, explore some regulatory gaps regarding platform governance, review some of the initiatives undertaken by trade unions on how to effectively guarantee labor rights and social security for digital platform workers.

https://en.antaranews.com/news/260133/l20-discusses-social-protection-issues-for-workers