BENGALURU: There is an urgent need to clearly define who are gig workers and platform workers. The definition is being misused by platforms and companies and workers are being exploited, said Gayatri Singh, Senior Advocate, Bombay High Court.
She said these workers are denied their basic rights including minimum wages, minimum working hours, health benefits and maternity leave. As the governments are talking of framing rules and laws for gig and platform workers, it is essential that their definition be clear.
The central government termed them as traditional employees, but there is no definition of traditional employees or employers. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) also talks of the employer-employee relationship, but in the present working conditions, there is no relationship between the two.
She was speaking at the day long seminar- Shaping the Future of Work: Strengthening Protection for Gig and Platform Workers in India, organised by Centre for Labour Studies on Saturday.
Balaji Parthasarthy, Fairwork India, said NITI Ayog recently stated that gig work is a part-time job. Parthasarathy added one of the demand NASSCOM placed is that Karnataka Draft Bill’s definition of gig workers be rejected in favour of the Code of Social Security on the grounds that platforms do not exercise any degree of control, commitment and accountability over independent contractors. But the workers are not independent as they are constantly tracked and monitored, he said.
On July 2024, the Karnataka government released to the public for comments ‘The Karnataka Platform Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill,’ a draft legislation intended to regulate the working conditions of gig and platform workers. Karnataka became the third state after Rajasthan and Jharkhand to legislate on matters concerning gig workers rights.