This article is authored by Ulka Bhattacharyya and Soumya Jha, Research Fellows at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. In this article, the authors attempt to discuss relevant developments in the United States of America and the European Union, as well as the status of India’s regulatory framework for providing social security to gig workers.
Abstract
Social security is understood as a safety net for workers and their families during times of need, serving critically as a buffer for life‘s exigencies. Though traditionally, the onus to provide social security has been on the State, the unique status of gig work, characterized by non-formal, non-traditional forms of work, has made this debate especially tricky to navigate. The phenomenal growth of the gig economy in recent years, especially since the advent of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has revealed pressing questions on the status of gig workers, globally. This demonstrates the urgent need to discuss the provision of social security for individuals engaged in gig work. In this context, this paper provides readers an overview of major developments surrounding the status of gig workers, and what this means for attempts to provide social security to such workers. The authors discuss relevant developments in the United States of America and the European Union, as well as the status of India‘s regulatory framework for providing social security to working individuals. The authors find that social security in the Indian context has been intimately tied with traditional employment status. Consequently, gig workers seem to have little to fall back on. However, the introduction of the Code on Social Security, 2020 seems to promise what has hitherto eluded gig workers – social security. As the authors demonstrate, while this is indeed a first step, questions remain that surround the proposals in the Code, its interaction with the existing regulatory framework governing social security and its subsequent implementation once the code comes into full effect.