Regulatory Gaps and Legal Protection for Flexible Workers in the Digital Platform Economy

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Published: 2024-07-21
Keywords:
Gig economy, Labor law, Worker protection, Algorithm, Portable benefits, Regulatory reform

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Tri Hambodo
Universitas Sunan Giri Surabaya, Indonesia
Didit Darmawan
Universitas Sunan Giri Surabaya, Indonesia

Abstract

The rise of the gig economy, characterized by short-term and flexible digital platform work, poses fundamental challenges to conventional labor law frameworks. This qualitative literature study examines the legal protections for workers in flexible contracts within Indonesia's gig economy. The analysis reveals a threefold problem: the inadequacy of the existing labor law framework (centered on the Manpower Act and the Job Creation Law) in regulating digitally-mediated work; substantive protection gaps in social security, wages, and occupational safety for gig workers; and the exacerbating role of algorithmic control, which creates subordination without legal employment status. The study further explores regulatory innovations from other jurisdictions, such as legal presumptions of employment in the EU, the ABC test in California, and portable benefit models. It concludes that Indonesia's current laws are structurally ill-equipped for the digital labor platform reality. A comprehensive regulatory overhaul is urgently needed, including the recognition of platform workers based on algorithmic control indicators, the establishment of portable social security schemes, guaranteed minimum earnings, algorithmic transparency mandates, and sectoral bargaining mechanisms. This reform is essential to ensure equitable protection for gig workers and to foster a just digital economy.

Article Details

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2024): Journal of Social Science Studies (JOS3)

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Hambodo, T., & Darmawan, D. (2024). Regulatory Gaps and Legal Protection for Flexible Workers in the Digital Platform Economy. Journal of Social Science Studies, 4(2), 277-290. https://jos3journals.id/index.php/jos3/article/view/374

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