Hostname: page-component-669899f699-8p65j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-27T10:33:43.842Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Regulating work in the gig economy: What are the options?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Andrew Stewart  and
Jim Stanford
Andrew Stewart*
Affiliation:
The University of Adelaide, Australia
Jim Stanford
Affiliation:
Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute, Australia; McMaster University, Canada
*
Andrew Stewart, Adelaide Law School, The University of Adelaide, Ligertwood Building, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. Email: andrew.stewart@adelaide.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Paid work associated with digital platform businesses (in taxi, delivery, maintenance and other functions) embodies features which complicate the application of traditional labour regulations and employment standards. This article reviews the extent of this type of work in Australia, and its main characteristics. It then considers the applicability of existing employment regulations to these ‘gig’ jobs, citing both Australian and international legislation and case law. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the scope of traditional regulations, minimum standards and remedies in the realm of irregular digitally mediated work. Regulators and policymakers should consider how to strengthen and expand the regulatory framework governing gig work. The article notes five major options in this regard: enforcement of existing laws; clarifying or expanding definitions of ‘employment’; creating a new category of ‘independent worker’; creating rights for ‘workers’, not employees; and reconsidering the concept of an ‘employer’. We review the pros and cons of these approaches and urge regulators to be creative and ambitious in better protecting the minimum standards and conditions of workers in these situations.

Keywords

J88Digital workgig jobslabour regulationprecarityrisk
Type
Symposium Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 28 , Issue 3: Work in the Gig Economy: Issues and Challenges , September 2017 , pp. 420 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) (2016) Unfair Terms in Small Business Contracts: A Review of Selected Industries. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ACCC. Available at: https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/unfair-terms-in-small-business-contracts (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Cherry, MA, Aloisi, A (2017) ‘Dependent contractors’ in the gig economy: a comparative approach. American University Law Review 66(3): 635–689.Google Scholar
Competition and Consumer Act (2010) Australian Government Federal Register of Legislation. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00062 (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
De Stefano, V (2015) The Rise of the ‘Just-in-Time Workforce’: On-Demand Work, Crowdwork and Labour Protection in the ‘Gig-Economy’ (Conditions of Work and Employment Series 71). Geneva: International Labour Organisation. Available at: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_protect/—protrav/—travail/documents/publication/wcms_443267.pdf (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Deloitte Access Economics (2017) Developments in the Collaborative Economy in NSW. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/economics/articles/review-collaborative-economy-nsw.html (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
European Parliament (2017) European social rights: workers’ protection needs to be extended to new jobs. Press release, 19 January. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20170113IPR58040/european-social-rights-workers-protection-needs-to-be-extended-to-new-jobs (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Fair Work Act (2009) Australian Government Federal Register of Legislation. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014C00031 (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill (2017) Parliament of Australia. Available at: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r5826 (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Farrell, D, Greig, F (2016) Paychecks, Paydays, and the Online Platform Economy: Big Data on Income Volatility. New York: JPMorgan Chase & Co. Available at: https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/institute/document/jpmc-institute-volatility-2-report.pdf (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Finkin, M (2016) Beclouded work in historical perspective. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 37(3): 578–603.Google Scholar
Forsyth, A (2016) Victorian inquiry into the labour hire industry and insecure work. Final Report, Industrial Relations Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Available at: http://economicdevelopment.vic.gov.au/inquiry-into-the-labour-hire-industry (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Freedland, MR, Kountouris, N (2011) The Legal Construction of Personal Work Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Graham, M, Hjorth, I, Lehdonvirta, V (2017) Digital labour and development: impacts of global digital labour platforms and the gig economy on worker livelihoods. European Review of Labour and Research 23(2): 135–162.Google ScholarPubMed
Harris, S, Krueger, A (2015) A Proposal for Modernizing Labor Laws for Twenty-First Century Work: The ‘Independent Worker. The Hamilton Project (Policy Brief 2015). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/modernizing_labor_laws_for_twenty_first_century_work_policy_brief.pdf (accessed 3 July 2015).Google Scholar
Huws, U, Joyce, S (2016a) Size of Germany’s ‘gig economy’ revealed for the first time. Crowd Working Survey, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield and UNI Europa, Brussels, November. Available at: http://www.uni-europa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/crowd_working_survey_Germany.pdf (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Huws, U, Joyce, S (2016b) Size of Sweden’s ‘gig economy’ revealed for the first time. Crowd Working Survey, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield and UNI Europa, Brussels, March. Available at: http://www.uni-europa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/crowd-working-survey-swedenpdf.pdf (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Huws, U, Joyce, S (2016c) Size of the UK’s ‘gig economy’ revealed for the first time. Crowd Working Survey, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield and UNI Europa, Brussels, February. Available at: http://www.feps-europe.eu/en/publications/details/363 (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Independent Contractors Act (2006) Australian Government Federal Legislation. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00818 (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Johnstone, R, McCrystal, S, Nossar, I, et al . (2012) Beyond Employment: The Legal Regulation of Work Relationships. Sydney, NSW, Australia: The Federation Press.Google Scholar
Johnstone, R, Stewart, A (2015) Swimming against the tide? Australian labour regulation and the fissured workplace. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 37(1): 55–90.Google Scholar
Kaine, S, Josserand, E (2016) Workers are taking on more risk in the gig economy. The Conversation, 6 July. Available at: https://theconversation.com/workers-are-taking-on-more-risk-in-the-gig-economy-61797 (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Kaine, S, Oliver, D, Josserand, E (2017) Precarity in the gig-economy: the experience of rideshare drivers. In: Association of Industrial Relations Academics in Australia and New Zealand Conference, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 8–10 February.Google Scholar
Katz, LF, Krueger, AB (2016) The rise and nature of alternative work arrangements in the United States, 1995–2015. NBER Working paper no. 22667, 29 March. Washington, DC: National Bureau of Economic Research. Available at: https://krueger.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/akrueger/files/katz_krueger_cws_-_march_29_20165.pdf (accessed 3 July 2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labour Hire Licensing Bill (2017) (Queensland). Available at: www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/tableOffice/TabledPapers/2017/5517T798.pdf (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Lewchuk, W (2017) Precarious jobs: where are they, and how do they affect well-being? Economic and Labour Relations Review 28(3): 402–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liebman, WB, Lyubarsky, A (2017) Crowdworkers, the law and the future of work: the US. In: Waas, B, Lyubarsky, A, Kezuka, K (eds) Crowdwork–A Comparative Law Perspective. Frankfurt: Bund-Verlag, pp. 24–141.Google Scholar
McCallum, R, Riley, J, Stewart, A (2013) Resolving disputes over employment rights in Australia. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 34(4): 843–876.Google Scholar
McCrystal, S (2014) Collective bargaining beyond the boundaries of employment: a comparative analysis. Melbourne University Law Review 37(3): 662–698.Google Scholar
McCrystal, S (2007) Collective bargaining by independent contractors: challenges from labour law. Australian Journal of Labour Law 20(1): 1–28.Google Scholar
Minifie, J (2016) Peer-to-peer pressure: policy for the sharing economy. Report no. 2016–7, 13 April. Melbourne VIC, Australia: Grattan Institute. Available at: https://grattan.edu.au/report/peer-to-peer/ (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Minter, K (2017) Negotiating labour standards in the gig economy: the case of airtasker and unions NSW. Economic and Labour Relations Review 28(3): 438–454.Google Scholar
Mishel, L (2015) Uber is not the future of work. The Atlantic, 16 November. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/11/uber-is-not-the-future-of-work/415905/ (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
New, C (2017) How much are people making from the sharing economy? In: Earnest Blog, 13 June. Available at: https://www.earnest.com/blog/sharing-economy-income-data/ (accessed 26 June 2017).Google Scholar
Prassl, J, Risak, M (2016) Uber, Taskrabbit, & Co: platforms as employers? Rethinking the legal analysis of crowdwork. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 37(3): 619–651.Google Scholar
Prassl, J, Risak, M (2017) The legal protection of crowdworkers: four avenues for workers’ rights in the virtual realm. In: Meil, P, Kirov, V (eds) Policy Implications of Virtual Work. Cham: Springer, pp. 273–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Productivity Commission (2016) Digital disruption: what do Governments need to do? Research paper, 15 June. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Productivity Commission. Available at: http://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/digital-disruption/digital-disruption-research-paper.pdf (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Productivity Commission (2015) Workplace relations framework. Inquiry Report no 76, 21 December. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Productivity Commission. Available at: http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/workplace-relations/report (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Riley, J (2017) Regulating work in the ‘gig economy’. In: Rönnmar, M, Julén Votinius, J (eds) Festskrift Till Ann Numhauser-Henning. Lund: Juristförlaget, pp. 669–683.Google Scholar
Roles, C, Stewart, A (2012) The reach of labour regulation: tackling sham contracting. Australian Journal of Labour Law 25(3): 258–283.Google Scholar
Senate Education and Employment References Committee (2016) A national disgrace: the exploitation of temporary work visa holders. Report, 17 March. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Parliament of Australia. Available at: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/temporary_work_visa/Report (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Silberman, MS, Irani, L (2016) Operating an employer reputation system: lessons from Turkopticon, 2008–2015. Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal 37(3): 505–541.Google Scholar
Slee, T (2016) What’s Yours Is Mine: Against the Sharing Economy. New York: OR Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanford, J (2017) The resurgence of gig work: Historical and theoretical perspectives. Economic and Labour Relations Review 28(3): 382–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, A, Forsyth, A, Irving, M, et al . (2016) Creighton and Stewart’s Labour Law. 6th ed. Sydney, NSW, Australia: The Federation Press.Google Scholar
Stone, KVW (2017) Unions in the precarious economy: how collective bargaining can help gig and on-demand workers. The American Prospect, 21 February. Available at: http://prospect.org/article/unions-precarious-economy (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Sundararajan, A (2016) The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-based Capitalism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Treasury Legislation Amendment (Small Business and Unfair Contract Terms) Act (2015) Australian Government Federal Register of Legislation. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2015A00147 (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
UK Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (2016) Taylor review on modern employment practices launches. Press Release, 30 November. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/taylor-review-on-modern-employment-practices-launches (accessed 28 June 2017).Google Scholar
UK House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee (2017) Self-employment and the Gig Economy. Thirteenth Report of Session 2016–2017, 1 May. London: House of Commons. Available at: https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmworpen/847/847.pdf (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Unions NSW (2016) Innovation or Exploitation: Busting the Airtasker Myth. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Unions NSW. Available at: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/unionsnsw/pages/3135/attachments/original/1474529110/Unions_NSW_Report_into_Airtasker.pdf?1474529110 (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Valenduc, G, Vendramin, P (2016) Work in the Digital Economy: Sorting the Old from the New. European Trade Union Institute Working paper 2016.03, 5 April. Brussels: European Trade Union Institute. Available at: https://www.etui.org/Publications2/Working-Papers/Work-in-the-digital-economy-sorting-the-old-from-the-new (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Weil, D (2014) The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkins, G (2016) The Uber contract explained: ‘I would be loath to sign it’. Sydney Morning Herald, 26 May. Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/the-uber-contract-explained-i-would-be-loathe-to-sign-it-20160523-gp25vc.html (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Wood, A (2016) It’s a matter of time: can Deliveroo deliver collective bargaining for the gig economy? Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, 16 August. Available at: https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/blog/its-a-matter-of-time-can-deliveroo-deliver-collective-bargaining-for-the-gig-economy/ (accessed 3 July 2017).Google Scholar
Workplace Express (2017a) FWC gets Airtasker disputes gig. Workplace Express, 1 May. Available at: https://www.workplaceexpress.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=55591 Google Scholar
Workplace Express (2017b) FWO investigating Uber’s compliance with workplace laws. Workplace Express, 28 June. Available at: https://www.workplaceexpress.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?selkey=55792 Google Scholar
Workplace Express (2017c) Promise of more Uber strikes. Workplace Express, 12 April. Available at: https://www.workplaceexpress.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&selkey=55543 Google Scholar