AICyberLex Nexus

Keywords: Labour Protection, Platform Workers, Cross Country, Wage Indicator

Introduction

Industry 4.0 and the outbreak of Covid 19 has led to the increasing demand for platform economy. This business model acts as a mediator between the complementors and the customers . Factors such as digitalization and flexibility contribute to this kind of employment model . The expanision of this employment model has been phenomenal in the past five years. Even Corporates have considered Gig Workers as a cheaper source of employment . Though the trends show that gig works are better options, there are a number of hurdles that are hinders the employment in Gig Economy. These include the barrier entries, the technological divide, the lack of social security benefits, the lack of payment and even not finding a job once the present task is completed.

Many researches are emerging in tis area, which focuses on the trends and the challenges that the platform economy poses to their employees. It was at this conjuncture, that the WageIndicator Foundation does a large number of different studies on the various aspects of the platform economy. One of the studies that they have conducted is the labour protection rights of the platform workers around the globe. This study has the data of 2020 and 2022 on major ten indicators that are required for the protection of the platform workers.

In this study, the researchers use the indicators that are published by the WageIndicator Foundation on the Basic Labour Protection around the Globe. A total of ten indicators namely safe work, fair wages, decent work, maternity benefits, employment security, trade unions, social security, fair treatment, Family Responsibility and Child and Forced Labour. Each of the indicators are given 100 points each and also a total overall composite score is prepared. The indicators are measured in all countries.

The research article is further divided into the following sections namely, the Methodology, Results and Discussions, Conclusion and Further Scope for research. In the Methodology section, a detailed methodology is provided on the selection of the criteria and the countries selected for the analysis. In the Results and Discussion section, a detailed result of all the selected criteria have been reported. A conclusion and scope for further research is also provided at the end of the article.

Methodology

Wage Indicator site provides the basic labour protections around the globe. Apart from providing a comprehensive score on all the major indicators, the site also has a group wise data for different countries. The groups are mainly categorized on the basis of income namely, high income, lower middle income, upper middle income and high-income categories.

The basic indicators on which the data is provided are, Overall Composite Score, Fair Wages, Decent Working Hours, Employment Security, Family Responsibilities, Maternity at Work, Safe Work, Social Security, Fair Treatment, Child and Forced Labour, Trade union

A two-step process was carried out to confirm the data that needs to be extracted for the research. Firstly, the major regions to be selected for the research were extracted. Keeping the scope of the conference in mind and the relevance of the topic, the lower middle-income countries were selected. This list includes, India, its neighboring countries such as Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Most of the African countries and Indonesia. A total of 28 countries were included in this list.

In the second step, major indicators needed to be selected. Again, keeping the theme of the conference in mind, social security, fair wages, employment security, fair treatment and safe work were selected along with measuring the overall composite score.

The individual scores of the countries are reported along with their comparative analysis. Maps are provided in the study along with the graphs and tables tabulated and prepared by the researcher.

Results and Discussion

This section of the article provides, the major discussion and the results that align with the objectives and scope of the study.

Overall Composite Scores

Firstly, the overall composite scores of the 28 countries were taken. The maximum score a country can secure is 100. Those countries whose score are above 90.5 are said to have decent work. The countries are said to approach decent work if their score is above 80.5 but below 90. The score of reasonable access to decent work are provided to those countries who scores are above 70.5 to 80. Limited Access to decent work is the scores provided to those countries whose scores are above 60.5 but below 70. The countries which score above 50.5 but below 60 are said to have basic access to decent work among the platform labourers. Those countries which lack even the decent work are scored 0-50.

The Figure 1 shows the basic labour protection composite scores given by the wage indicator among the lower middle-income countries of the world. Mangolia received a total of 82.5 which was the highest among the countries of the lower middle income. It was followed by Ukraine, Morocco and Abo Verde. India stands in middle of the countries with an overall composite score of 65. The least scored country is Vietnam with an overall composite score of 29 out of 100. Table 1shows the List of the Top countries of the overall composite scores along with India and the least scoring countries. A mapping has also been done using Microsoft Excel of the countries and their overall composite scores as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1 : Overall Composite Scores of the Countries

Figure 2: Mapping of overall scores done by the scholar

Table 1: Country Wise Composite Score

Source : Collected and Compiled by the author

Fair Wages

The overall composite scores are further divided into ten criteria. One of the prominent criteria among them is the fair wages. Fair Wages consists of five different sub criteria. A total of 20 points are given for each of the sub criteria which makes it to a total of 100. The five sub criteria are Minimum Wage, Regular Wage, Overtime Premium, Weekly Rest Work Compensation and Night Work Premium. A maximum of 100 points can be obtained by a country.

Figure 3 depicts the fair wage scores given by the Wage Indicator for the different countries. It can be seen that three countries namely El Savador, Honduras, and Combodia scored 100 points, which indicates that all the five sub criteria have been followed by the countries. A major group of the countries get a score of 80 including India. A deeper analysis showed that the countries which have got 80 points lack in providing weekly compensation off to their employee who work in the platforms. Those countries which have got 60 points, along with the lack in providing weekly compensation, they lack night work premium. Most of the countries which have got 40 points, along with the above-mentioned criteria, also lack the minimum wage. Those countries which have 20 points only get regular wage. The least performed country in this criteria is Nigeria.

Figure 3: Fair Wages of the platforms across countries

Social Security

Another criterion for assessing the overall composite score is the social security for the platform workers. The Sustainable Development Goals and the latest EU conventions and the social security code of 2020 by the Indian Government states that the employees must be provided with the ample social security to live a decent life. The WageIndicator foundation ranks the countries on the basis of the Social Security provided to the platform workers. A total of 100 points will be awarded to the Countries. Five Criteria have been set for calculating the scores. The criteria are Old Age pension, Survivors’ pension, unemployment Benefits, Sickness Benefits and Invalidity benefits. A total of 20 points will be provided for each of the criteria.

Figure 4 depicts the social security cores of the lower middle-income countries. The analysis shows that this criteria have been performed well by many of the countries. The countries which have scored 100 points are Ukraine, Morocco, Cabo Verde, Egypt, Myanmar and Morocco. This definitely means that all these countries have performed well in all the sub criteria set by the Wage Indicator Foundation. Majority of the countries have scored 80 and 60 points respectively. India has scored 80 points and on further analysis it was clear that they lacked the Sickness benefits more than 6 months. The countries that have performed the least are Bangladesh and Nigeria. Their fair Wage Score is Zero which means that they lack any of the social security criteria.

Figure 4: Social security of the platforms across countries

Employment Security

Employment security is a keen concern in the area of platform economy. This is mainly due to the temporary relationship between the employer and employee. As the employment in the platform economy are short term and there exists no permanent relationship among them, there is a need for employment security for the platform workers. The Wage Indicator foundation has provided a total of 100 points for Employment Security. The Employment Security consists of Written Employment contract, Fixed Term Contract, Probation Period. Termination Notice Period and Severance Pay. Each of the criterion is given 20 points and a total of 100 points is awarded to the countries.

Figure 5 depicts the list of countries in the Lower Middle Income group along with their Employment Security scores in the form of a graph. Three countries namely Pakistan, Morocco and Cabo Verde has scored 100 points. They have not lacked in any of the sub criteria. Most of the countries have scored 80 and 60 points. India has scored only 40 points. The employees only get Termination notice period and Severance Pay. This means they do not have a proper written agreement, fixed term contract and Probation Period. The countries which have performed the least are Nigeria and Ghana which only has a written employment contract.

Figure 5 : Employment security scores of platform workers across countries

Fair Treatment

Fair Treatment is another criterion set up by the Wage Indicator Foundation to measure the basic labour protection of platform employees. A total of 100 points are devoted for this criterion. Fair Treatment is again divided into Prohibition of Employment discrimination, Equal remuneration for work of equal value, Prohibition of sexual harassment, absence of restriction on women’s employment and Basic Labour protection for Gig workers. Each of the criterion is given 20 points each.

Figure 6 shows the graphical representation of the fair treatment scores of the lower middle income countries of the World. It can be seen that. Zambia, Vietnam, Mangolia, Kenya and Bolivia are the countries which have top scored the Fair Treatment criteria by scoring 100 on 100. India is among the least scoring countries along with Bangladesh, Sudan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Myanmar. According to the scoring, India only scored on Prohibition of Sexual Assault.

Figure 6: Fair Treatment scores of the platfrom workers across countries

Safe Work

Having a safe working environment is a necessary for the employees either if they are full time or part time. A total of 100 points are set for the countries. It is further divided into Personal Protective Equipment, Training on Health and Safety, Restriction on work, Employment injury benefits. Each of these criteria is given 25 marks, which makes up to a total of 100 marks.

In contrast to the earlier criteria, this criteria shows a steady full 100 on 100 to almost all the countries.Ukraine, Zambia, Vietnam, Tunisia, Senegal. Nicargua, Mangolia, Indonesia, Egypt, Bolivia and Angola are the countries which scored 100 points in the Safe Work Criteria. All the other countries scored 75 on 100

Figure 7 shows the graphical representation of the scores. This means there is a decent safe work which is provided by the countries to the platform workers. The criteria which India lacks is the Restriction on work (prejudicial to mother and child’s health).

Figure 7: Safe work scores of platforms across countries

Conclusion

Gig Economy otherwise called the Platform economy is said to be an alternative form of work engagement which relies on temporary relation between the employer and the employees. The autonomy and flexible nature of the employment model, attracts youth into this working model. Though there is a high potential, there are some drawbacks to this form of employment. /in this paper, the researcher has tried to bring out a cross country analysis of the major labour protections across the globe. The data published by the Wage Indicator Foundation is used for the same. It can be seen that, India in the near future will emerge as a leading country in providing the required social security for the platform workers. The introduction of e-shram portal, social security code and the continuous stress on gig economy in the budget will aid to this development.

Scope for further research

Future research in this area can be concentrated on different income countries. Different geographical segments, other indicators and even a comparative study can be made in between two different time periods i.e, 2020 and 2022