The Economic Times (06.02.2025) The Ministry of Labour and Employment is set to introduce a policy granting pension benefits to gig and platform workers through the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation. This will supplement the existing health cover under PM Jan Aarogya Yojana. The pension plan, funded by aggregators, aims to provide financial security for gig workers, recognizing their significant contribution to the services economy.

thedailyguardian.com 801.02.20259 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2025 speech, announced that the government will issue ID cards to gig workers. These workers will also get healthcare benefits through a social security scheme. Moreover, the government will invest in street vendors, urban workers, and online platform workers to improve their financial security.

business-standard.com (21.01.2025) While the new Code on Social Security 2020 defines ‘gig and platform’ workers and outlines various welfare measures like life and disability insurance, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, and old-age protection, its non-implementation implies that millions of gig workers remain without any protection.   Labour Lawyer B C Prabhakar says that since the new labour codes are not yet implemented, it is pertinent that the government comes up with a holistic framework for the welfare of this bulging workforce in the upcoming budget.

The evolving nature of work is prompting a global shift towards more adaptable and flexible employment practices. However, NSEs face obstacles due to their unique nature of fluctuating income, instability, and administrative barriers that complicate their inclusion in labor and social protection systems.

International Labour Review (Sept 2024) This article explores the heterogeneity of care platforms using the case studies of two platforms in the Italian domestic work sector: one that carries out matching between supply and demand (Helpling), reinforcing informality in the sector, and one that acts as an employer (Batmaid). The analysis shows that digital platforms can introduce a corporate logic into a sector where it was previously absent.

worldbank.org (04.11.2024) The rapid expansion of the digital economy has transformed the labor market, particularly through the rise of platform-based work. Despite the opportunities it brought into the lives of many workers, the digital economy has presented many challenges to the working conditions of platform workers. This policy brief examines regulatory approaches to protect platform workers across the world and synthesizes the approach to legislation and its scope in the key areas of labor regulations.

AméricaEconomía (14.10.2024) The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, established in her 59th commitment to promote a reform to the Federal Labor Law (LFT) to provide social security to workers through a digital platform, so the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) began meetings with workers in this sector in order to advance the content of the proposal. The agency headed by Marath Bolaños called this week the groups of digital platform workers to a meeting to present the proposal, which should be ready this month. “Commitments 59.

Special Issue: Exploring unemployment insurance for the self-employed and platform workers - European Journal of Social Security - Volume 26, Number 2, Jun 01, 2024

consilium.europa.eu (14.10.2024) The Council has adopted new rules that aim to improve working conditions for the more than 28 million people working in digital labour platforms across the EU. The platform work directive will make the use of algorithms in human resources management more transparent, ensuring that automated systems are monitored by qualified staff and that workers have the right to contest automated decisions. It will also help correctly determine the employment status of persons working for platforms, enabling them to benefit from any labour rights they are entitled to.

researchgate.net (September 2024) The social protection of platform workers is considered one of the most precarious features and political challenges of this new form of employment. Still, there have only been a few empirical investigations on this issue to date. This article presents an explorative empirical analysis of the social protection of platform workers in Germany - a conservative welfare regime with a strong link between standard employment and institutionalised social protection.