Which Welfare Rights for Platform Workers?

Marius Olivier Platform workers typically sell their time or labour through a digital platform to a user, with crowdwork and work-on-demand being the most prevalent forms. There is no single, agreed definition, although the general sentiment seems to suggest that platform work is narrower than gig-work – the latter is often understood to refer to work outside the traditional employer–employee relationship or, generally, non-standard work. For the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) platform workers are individuals who use an app or a website to match themselves with customers, in order to provide a service in return for money. The recently adopted Indian Code on Social Security of 2020 defines a platform worker as a person engaged in or undertaking platform work, which in turn is defined to mean ‘a work arrangement outside of a traditional employer–employee relationship in which organisations or individuals use an online platform to access...