barandbench.com (16.05.2024) The gig economy, a burgeoning sector, represents a paradigm shift in traditional employment models, offering flexibility and autonomy to workers across various industries. Despite its benefits, the sector's rapid growth, particularly in urban India, has highlighted significant regulatory gaps, especially concerning the protection of gig workers' basic rights. The informal nature of gig work, mediated through digital platforms, poses unique challenges in ensuring fair labour practices and safeguarding workers' rights.

WIEGO (23.10.2023) The extension of social protection to all workers, including those in the informal economy, is crucial to creating better quality employment. For this to happen, it is essential that financing for social protection is increased. A new scheme for financing social protection for gig workers in Rajasthan, India, could provide lessons for other workers in informal employment. WIEGO spoke to social activist Nikhil Dey to learn more.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (30.04.2024) Algorithmic management by large online platforms disrupts societal relations. A case study about drivers in Southeast Asia demonstrates the worldwide shifts that are underway.

The Financial Express (02.05.2024) India has made remarkable progress in expanding social security through the groundbreaking Code on Social Security-2020 (CoSS 2020), positioning itself as a pioneer in this field. This legislation stands out for its acknowledgment of platform workers and extending universal social security to them. Furthermore, under India’s leadership, the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration has prioritised the goal of ensuring adequate social protection and decent working conditions for platform workers under the overarching theme of “The Future of Work”.

socialeurope.eu (17.04.2024) Platform work is often presented as a stepping-stone for migrant workers. It may not however feel so benign to them.

ilo.org (04.04,2024) While Kenya has made significant strides towards achieving gender equality, the findings of the report shows that significant gaps remain in the realm of digital labour platforms. Women in most sectors earn less than men and have lower access to social security benefits. The existing regulation fails to recognize most of the women workers on location-based and online platform work as employees, as a result excluding women from basic labor rights and protections.

consilium.europa.eu (11.03.2024) EU employment and social affairs ministers confirmed the provisional agreement reached on 8 February 2024 between the Council’s presidency and the European Parliament’s negotiators on the platform work directive. This EU legal act aims to improve working conditions and regulate the use of algorithms by digital labour platforms. The 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.

ilo.org (31.12.2023) This paper discusses the expansion or penetration of digital economic activity in the context of developing economies, and what this may mean for economic or structural transformations for countries in the global South. We ask what possibilities new jobs and forms of work in the digital economy hold – in particular platform work – for the productive transformation of economies in ways that contribute to achieving the goals of human, inclusive and sustainable development. What are the impacts on work and workers in this process?

bnnbreaking.com (26.02.2024) The World Bank recommends mandatory retirement savings for digital platform workers in Malaysia to safeguard informal workers in the gig economy. Explore the challenges faced by informal workers and the government's response to ensure economic security.

ILO Working Paper 103(20.02.2024)  The objective of this paper is to provide a panoramic description and analysis of the diversity of the new forms of employment that have been emerging in China, with the focus on their background, the main types, the status quo of labour rights protection, and the government's responses to the challenges of labour regulations brought by NFE. Finally, on the basis of the above, the paper puts forward corresponding policy recommendations on how to improve workers' protection in new forms of Employment.

Reuters (16.02.2024) Europe's attempt to give workers at Uber, Deliveroo and other online platforms more social and labour rights failed a second time after France and three other countries abstained from voting on the watered-down political deal. Belgium, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, is unlikely to muster enough support for yet another attempt, especially as the European Parliament which has to endorse a final deal, gradually winds down ahead of elections in June.

huffingtonpost.fr (17.02.2024) La fin d’un travail de plus de deux ans ? Plusieurs pays ont bloqué ce vendredi 16 février l’adoption d’une législation européenne censée renforcer les droits des travailleurs des plateformes numériques comme Uber ou Deliveroo, mais largement vidée de sa substance. Parmi eux : la France ou l’Allemagne.

equaltimes.org (14.02.2024) In recent years, the platform model of capitalism has spread throughout the world, exacerbating precariousness, informality and the delocalisation of labour relations wherever it goes. This in turn has created the need for alternatives that counteract the instrumentalisation of emerging technologies to exploit workers. One viable alternative is platform cooperativism, a model of worker association that uses new technologies to ensure the well-being of workers rather than exploit them through algorithmic mechanisms of control.

European Parliament (17.01.2024) Although a provisional political agreement between the Council and Parliament was announced on 13 December 2023, 10 Member States could not endorse this agreement on 22 December 2023. The Belgian Presidency is seeking to revive informal discussions with the European Parliament so as to set a date for new negotiations. Platform work is an umbrella concept covering a heterogeneous group of economic activities completed through a digital platform.

ilo.org (01.02.2024) A new Law and Practice report, Realizing Decent Work in the Platform Economy , has been published by the ILO. The report marks a crucial milestone in the process that can lead to a new international labour standard on decent work in the platform economy. It will be discussed at the 2025 and 2026 International Labour Conferences.

India Today (29.01.2024) The proposed fund, outlined in the Social Security Code of 2020, represents a significant move towards providing universal social security for a wide range of workers.

Euractiv (12.01.2024) Last month, a coalition of EU countries blocked the provisional agreement on the Platform Workers Directive. But while the Belgian EU Council presidency wants to use the political deal as the starting point for future discussion, Paris wants a more comprehensive file reshaping.