Need for formalisation of Gig Workers: Towards a Paradigm shift in working Model

Abstract

In recent years, what is known as “gig economy”, a term applicable to digitally intermediated labour services, characterized by unique or sporadic tasks (gigs), has expanded enormously owing to technological advancement. India currently houses the world’s third-largest start-up ecosystem and due to pandemic-induced massive technological advancement and work-from-home business model, the future is likely to be dominated by the gigworkers. This rapid expansion of the gig-economy would necessarily demand to measure these non-traditional employment formats. These jobs belong to a "Grey area" in which they share characteristics of dependent and independent employment at the same time i.e. they are hybrid. Identifying the category of these workers correctly is vital, as this type of employment has had a series of repercussions on different aspects of the labour market. The paper tends to propose solutions to the problems that arise due to misclassification with the help of a comparative analysis made concerning the status of gig workers employment in different nations. Lastly, The Social Security Code, 2020 is analysed to study the ambiguities the code has concerning gig workers and solutions for the same have also been proposed.This rapid expansion of the gig-economy would necessarily demand to measure these non-traditional employment formats. These jobs belong to a "Grey area" in which they share characteristics of dependent and independent employment at the same time i.e. they are hybrid. Identifying the category of these workers correctly is vital, as this type of employment has had a series of repercussions on different aspects of the labour market. The paper tends to propose solutions to the problems that arise due to misclassification with the help of a comparative analysis made concerning the status of gig workers employment in different nations. Lastly, The Social Security Code, 2020 is analysed to study the ambiguities the code has concerning gig workers and solutions for the same have also been proposed.