Workers in the So-Called ‘Gig Economy’ Such as Uber Drivers and Foodora Riders Should Be Treated as Employees for all Purposes

This essay explores the implications of treating gig workers as employees for terms and conditions of employment, OHS compliance, and social inclusion/workforce participation. The essay argues that gig workers should be treated as employees for all purposes.

Workers in the So-Called ‘Gig Economy’ Such as Uber Drivers and Foodora Riders
Should Be Treated as Employees for all Purposes
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
An overview of the Gig Economy...................................................................................................4
Australian work place laws..............................................................................................................6
Case study of Uber and Foodora.....................................................................................................9
Implications for Terms and Conditions of Employment and Other Items e.g. OHS Compliance,
Social Inclusion / Workforce Participation....................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
Digital platform executes its operation in the ‘gig economy’ which is related to the contracts that
are individual doesn’t get executed collectively and irregularly both using durations and hours.
The arrangement of work is being executed commercially, and those workers working in the gig
economy gets engaged in work as independent contractors, and they are not entitled to the
standards of minimum labor. The digital platform business generally does not operate in a larger
section of the economy but the work facilitated gives its concentration in the sections of the
lower skilled labor market in which formal qualification is not stated as a requirement. It is found
that there is very limited power of bargaining in the hands of workers in the contract terms and
pays rates in this labor market segments. Digital platforms mainly exacerbate such issues and
have full control on every worker who makes access to the platforms and also determines
payments and rates unilaterally1. Before the advent performed regarding modern digital
platforms, the debates had been in process regarding the independent contractor’s
appropriateness in the working relationship which is the same as employment. It was observed in
the traditional binary classification of workers that those workers are either employees or
independent employees and were unaware of the issues and complexities which is tackled by the
dependent workers being operating in work in the gig economy. It is observed that many of the
platforms in digital business make its operations in the legal grey area when the topic comes for
the practices of employment. Those workers make the appropriate choosing of the work hours
and make a sign up of specific tasks. Thus, it is argued that such workers don’t meet the
definitions of the employees. However, such workers possess limited bargaining power and don’t
1 Kaine S and Josserand E. Workers are taking on more risk in the gig economy. The Conversation, 6 July. Available
at: https://theconversation.com/workers-are-taking-onmore-risk-in-the-gig-economy-61797 (Accessed 12 December
2018)
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have traditional attributes on various independent contractors2. Dependence is seen on the digital
platform by workers for the performance and allocation of work. There is the maintenance of
control of the digital business on the ways the work is compensated and performed. Workers
actions are being monitored and supervised, and the pressure is given to work exclusively on the
platforms.
Unions associated with gig economy and labor’s laws are concerned that when the workers are
not able to meet the definition of independent contractors will not be reviewed by the
employment legislation. Moreover, when the classification is made sustainable, then there will
be no protection given under the legislative minimum labor standards3. It had been reviewed that
those organization who are involved in the workplace along with gig economy has come across
with a large number of difficulties while defining the status of employment. The advancement in
technology and Smartphone’s proliferation has reshaped the landscape of commerce and has
provided consumers with newer ways to get access to the marketplace of retailers4. On-demand
companies are one part of innovation, and the on-demand commerce is said to be the gig
economy which is the market’s collection which matches the providers of services to consumers
of gig basis.
2 Cherry MA and Aloisi A ‘Dependent contractors’ in the gig economy: a comparative approach. American
University Law Review 66(3) (2017): 635–689.
3 Independent Contractors Act. Australian Government Federal Legislation. Available at:
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00818 (Accessed 12 December 2018).
4 McCrystal, S. Collective bargaining beyond the boundaries of employment: a comparative analysis. Melbourne
University Law Review 37(3) (2014): 662–698.
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This essay will highlight the workers of Uber drivers and Foodora riders who are in the gig
economy in Australia. It will also explain the necessity and requirement that needs to be given to
the drivers and riders which is achieved by the employees. It will further consider the implication
for the terms and conditions of employment and other various other items.
An Overview of the Gig Economy
The gig economy is the collection of the market which matches the providers to make consumers
on a gig which is based on the support of on-demand commerce. The gig workers are found to
enter in the formal agreements with the on-demand companies to give services to the clients of
the company. The perspective makes a request to the clients for the services through Smartphone
application aligns with internet-based technology platforms which will allow the clients to
recognize and investigate for the providers and to make the specification of the jobs. The gig
workers who get engaged by the on-demand companies make a provision of the requested
services and make compensation for jobs.
The models of business mainly vary across companies which have control over tech-platforms
along with associated brands. The providers are allowed to set the prices and also select the jobs
whereas also preserve control on the decision of assignment and price-setting. Some of them
make its operation in the local market while many of the others help in serving a global client
base5. It had been seen that although driver services such as Uber and food are known in its best
manner wherein the gig economy have made its operation in many of the vast sectors which
includes business services, medical care and also delivery services.
5 Moran, J. A. Independent contractor or employee-misclassification of workers and its effect on the state. Buff.
Pub. Int. LJ, 28, (2009)105.
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With many of the exceptions, the providers are viewed as independent contractors by the on-
demand companies. Such designation is made explicit as per the formal agreement which had
made an establishment of relationship in between providers and company. Also, it has been
observed that many of the on-demand companies have given providers the ability to make the
selection of the jobs, participation levels setting of the hours and also have control over their
works. The gig economy is said to be the expansion of the traditional freelance work. But, the
traditional freelance job is distinct from the gig jobs. The established brand and store-front which
is built through tech-platform Company reduced the entry costs for the providers. On the other
hand, gig workers are not required to invest in any of the established company; the operating
costs might be lower and also make an allowance of the participation of the workers to be
transitory in the market of the gig.
Those companies which rule the gig economy try to bring about flexibility to work. However,
the company’s work makes an argument that they don’t have protections and also fair pays.
Moreover, the roles are not flexible as workers are incentivized as well as pressured to work
when there is a need of the company. It is also analyzed that workers in the gig economy need to
be treated as employees for all of the purposes.
In the context of Australia, the problem has got polarized. The proponents associated with gig
economy have advocated for the flexible and freedom which is linked with independent contract
work as well as freelance. The major support comes by the choice in which people choose when
and how to execute the work. The work structure is appealing where the customers require a task
to be completed where an entrepreneur possess skills to fulfill the task. However, it has been
noticed that the rights group of workers generally highlights the negative aspects of the gig
economy. There are various benefits associated with the permanent work which includes income
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security, insurance or accident, paid leave and superannuation. That entrepreneur who possesses
un-specialized skills needs to bid down the payment rates to secure the work.
It is analyzed that gig workers possess both pros and cons where flexibility, variety, and passion
are the major pros of the gig workers. The gig working helps the people to allocate flexible time
for their work and also have an option for adaptability. Gigs also give the workers with the
provision to try some jobs. It helps the new and experienced workers to explore some careers and
varieties. However, it is analyzed that gig work comes up with uncertainty. It is not easy for the
gigs workers to achieve stable income and have to struggle for a finding of the newer job. In
addition to this, gig workers also don’t have a proper schedule for working, and there are no
holidays achieved by them6. They also don’t get all the employer-paid benefits like health
insurance, bonus as well as retirement plans. Thus, workers associated with gigs economy are
not treated as employees for all purposes, but Australian workplace law and Victorian law have
made various reforms to protect the gigs employees from discrimination and other exploitations.
Australian Work Place Laws
The legislation, common law, and industrial instrument are the major employment law’s sources.
The employers in Victoria have achieved a response to assure if the people working along with
them are being treated in a fair and respectful manner. It is not done only for the betterment of
business, but it is also done as the structure of law. The successful employers make an assurance
6 Mishel, L. 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-ofwork/415905/ (Accessed 12
December, 2018).
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that if the workplace is away from discrimination, bullying and also sexual harassment. Equal
Opportunity Act 2010 along with Federal human rights laws sets out the responsibility7.
Australia keeps on attracting skilled professional people so as to enhance the benefit of Australia.
After the abolition of the white Australian policy, the migration was made accessible to every
race. However, it is found that although, the migration policy was made to abolish discriminate
but there was still the availability of discrimination on the basis of race with some specific group
members. Moreover, it is also viewed that Australia have toughened the already hard line
immigration policy since five years so as to send refugees and migrants to the prison camps on
the pacific islands. In addition to that, it is also seen that Australian migration policy has also
shown its discrimination and restriction while providing holiday Visa to many of the countries.
For instances, the Indian and Chinese people who are residing in Australia and working are not
given the work holiday visa8. The Chinese citizen along with the Indian citizen is not given all
the preferences required by them. In fact, different terms and conditions had been implemented
which shows the kind of discrimination done by the country. Furthermore, it is also observed that
the Indian and Chinese students are facing very problem so as to get permanent resident due to
the change in the laws and regulations. The relationship of Australia with China and India is
found to be highly influenced due to political affairs which have its impact on the migration
policy.
7 McCallum R, Riley J and Andrew A Resolving disputes over employment rights in Australia. Comparative Labor
Law and Policy Journal 34(4) (2013): 843–876.
8 McCrystal, S. Collective bargaining beyond the boundaries of employment: a comparative analysis. Melbourne
University Law Review 37(3) (2014): 662–698.
8

Moreover, employers also possess the responsibilities to give fair and safe workplace under the
Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. There are few more federal laws which are
associated with workplaces laws which include the Fair work Act 2009, workplace gender
equality Act 2012 and also privacy Act 1988. The employers of state public sectors in Victoria
are linked by Victorian Informational privacy Act 2000 and Public Administration Act 20049. In
addition to it, Australian public services employers are also linked with the federal Public service
Act 1999.
The national workplace relations system had been generated by the Fair Work Act 2009 and also
other laws which had covered some private sector employees and also employers prevailing and
working in Australia. The fair work Act 2009 along with other legislation of the workplace has
set out key elements. Moreover, the Fair work Act 2009 provides necessary facilities for
registration of an association of employees and employers and also associations of enterprises.
Registrations have given major responsibility which includes organizational rules, financial
management, and governance standards. The legislation has also been set by which registrations
of organization could be canceled, the organization could be amalgamated, and the demarcation
disputes could be resolved. It is also reviewed that trade unions of Australia have rights to act as
representative of bargaining and should have the capability to enforce standards of member’s
behalf. In addition to that, FW Act and Work Health and Safety Act 2011 have given a provision
to the trade union officials to enter the place of work for the particular purposes. In Australia,
two types of discrimination are treated as unlawful discrimination which includes indirect
discrimination and direct discrimination. It is observed that being an employee, they are
9 Yamada, D. C., & Maltby, L. L. Beyond 'Economic Realities': The case for amending federal employment
discrimination laws to include independent contractors. Boston College Law Review, 38(2) (1997)., 239.
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protected from every kind of discrimination in the workplace by the federal laws and Victorian
laws. This Victorian law associated with employees’ rights includes every stage of employment
which include the offering of the unfair terms and conditions of employment, disclosing a
disability in the workplace and being dismissed unfairly. It also makes a negotiation for flexible
work arrangements and returns to the workplace after injury.
It has been analyzed that national laws on discriminations which were included in section 351 of
the Fair Work Act 2009 were applied to the majority of employees of Victoria. This state also
has their equal opportunity laws along with anti-discrimination laws which were applied to the
Victorian employees but were not applied to the commonwealth employees. The Equal
Opportunity Act 2010 have been made to protect the employees from discrimination which is
caused because of age, gender identity, parental status, employment activity, sex, etc. the
Victorian Equal Opportunity and human rights commission has also provided the facilities to the
employees to file a complaint10.
In Australia, no common law right has been executed to privacy. However, usage and disclosure
of personal information are being regulated by the privacy act 1988. As per this law, the
employers are free to make the collection, usage, and disclosure of the employee’s records and
also make outsourcing of the employment-related functions which had a direct relationship with
employment. The Privacy Act is mainly related to personal information of employees which
states that none of the individuals can achieve personal information of others.
10 McCrystal, S. Collective bargaining beyond the boundaries of employment: a comparative analysis. Melbourne
University Law Review 37(3) (2014): 662–698.
10

The Victorian government is concerned with the conditions and wages which are being faced by
the workers due to the on-demand gig economy. This is the case when the people are allocated as
independent contractors. It has been observed that current laws state that people should be
classified as employees and should achieve all the facilities associated with it. It had been stated
by the Victorian industrial relations minister Natelie Hutchins that gig economy companies such
as Uber and Fedora would face penalties if they leave or dismiss the Uber drivers or Foodora
Riders without notice or if they will not be able to give contracts or invoice of payment within
the time interval of 30 days11. This reform is based on the newer amendments done by the Owner
Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005. The FWC also heard regarding unfair dismissal test
case which has involved the former case of Foodora rider12. The government of Australian has
made reforms to remove loopholes to prevent workers of the gig economy from accessing the
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The present data had been shown by the Australian Bureau of statistics which stated that there
were 265,000 independent contractors present in Victoria in August 2017. Approximately
3,213,000 people were being employed in Victoria which means that independent contractors
have made about eight percent of the whole sum working population. The whole data of
Australian has shown that there are on average 8.2 % of independent contractors on total
employed persons13. The workers of Australia in the gig economy have faced lower super
11 Carboni, M. A new class of worker for the sharing economy. Richmond Journal of Law & Technology, 22(4)
(2016), 11.
12 Seaquist, G., Bramhandkar, A., & Barken, M. Employed or exploited? Financial and legal implications of the
Uber case. Proceedings Of the New York State Economics Association, 48, (2015).
13 Friedman, G. Workers without employers: shadow corporations and the rise of the gig economy. Review of
Keynesian Economics, 2, (2014). 171-188.
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contributions which posses missing superannuation guarantee, and as a result, there are lower
incomes levels present in retirement.
A case study of Uber and Foodora
Uber Case
Uber is known to be the describing the one who drives for the company as the partner-drivers.
They are mainly classified as self-employed contractors. In the case of Aslam v Uber BV and
other, the tribunal of employment has analyzed that Uber model has made a development where
the drivers were distinguished as the self-employed and contractual documentation which is
created to support the status of self-employment status, but it doesn’t tally with the real
arrangement of working. It has been analyzed that applicants of Uber driver are required to give
an online application and go into the process of onboarding which involves approval of
documentation which includes MOT, insurance, PHV license, driving license, etc14. The drivers
then make the supply of own vehicles and is made responsible for maintenance and running
costs.
It was seen in the case of Uber that a large number of drivers had brought various claims for the
assertion of the status of workers. It had been accepted from Tribunal that they were the workers
as per the employment rights Act, the working time regulations and National Minimum Wage
Act at the time when were given authority to drive the vehicle, have started the uber app and
were ready to pick up the passengers. The tribunal had found that contractual arrangement was
14 Silberman, MS and Irani, L. Operating an employer reputation system: lessons from Turkopticon, 2008–2015.
Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal 37(3) (2016): 505–541
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seen as a fraud which is found when the invoice is generated for the drivers and referred drivers
as customers of Uber to give working business appearance for the drivers15. It had been found by
the tribunal that the reality regarding Uber was that this company was making a run of a
straightforward business of transport and the drivers were recruited for that business.
Moreover, the recent case regarding Uber was the issues which states if Uber drivers are either a
formal worker of Uber or are being employed by Uber or are self-employed is being addressed
recently in the legal system. The case was addressed on 20 July 2016 in between Yaseen Aslam
and James Farrar16. This case had made an argument that drivers had made its working for the
Uber Company and need to receive all the workers’ rights which includes national minimum
wages and holiday pays. It had been observed from the case of the Uber that drivers are treated
as self-employed, and thus, none of the facilities related to the workers are given to them. It is
also analyzed that no sick leave along with holiday packages has been provided to them. Hence,
it can be stated that working in the gig economy which also includes the Uber drivers are not
treated as employees of all purposes and because of which, the employees are not satisfied with
their work structures.
Foodora Riders case
The fair work ombudsman has supposed that the Australian food delivery services Foodora have
engaged themselves in the sham contracts since the year 2015 which results in workers
15 Stark, L. & Rosenblat, A. Algorithmic labor and information asymmetries: A case study of Uber’s drivers.
International Journal of Communication, 10(2016), 27.
16 Rosenblat, A., & Stark, L. Uber’s drivers: Information asymmetries and control in dynamic work. Data & Society
Research Institute, 17,(2015).
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underpayment that were classified incorrectly as contractors apart from saying them, employees.
It had been reviewed by the court that although this workforce achieves benefits of freedom and
work flexibility, it also reduces cost and make unpredictable pay along with limited long terms
advantages. It had been revealed from the study done over 200 Gig economy freelancers from
the renowned marketplaces such as Uber, Airbnb, and Foodora that approximately 73% of the
workers of gig generally leave the marketplace when there is an issue regarding payment17. It had
been reviewed in the case of Foodora that workers were treated as independent contractors and
this gig economy company had avoided paying the cost of employee’s entitlements which
includes sick leave, superannuation and also annual leave. The ruling commissions have made
Foodora legally responsible for paying of entitlements. The Fair work commissions which are
made for a decision regarding the relationship between Foodora and Klooger have contrasted
that Uber drivers are not treated as employees but as contractors. The documents which were
filed in the federal courts have stated that ombudsman has alleged that delivery service company
have treated three of its delivery drivers not as employees but as independent contractors
although they were the certified employees of that company. This has resulted that those workers
in which one from Sydney and two others from Melbourne were paid with a minimum rate of
wages, no public holidays rates, penalty rates, and casual loading. It was also analyzed in the
case of Foodora that company didn’t even accuse of the failure to reimburse the superannuation.
Ombudsman estimated that the alleged underpayment cost of the three workers was $ 1620 in
combination18. Thus, the case was filed against Foodora Company for accusing three workers to
17 Roles C and Stewart A. The reach of labour regulation: tackling sham contracting. Australian Journal of Labour
Law 25(3) (2012): 258–283.
18 Ross, H. Ridesharing's House of Cards: O'Connor V. Uber Technologies, Inc. and the viability of Uber's labor
model in Washington. Wash. L. Rev., 90 (2015).1431.
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sign an independent contractor agreement and also give an Australian Business Number (ABN).
Lastly, the company had to back pay the three workers along with their superannuation. As per
the fair work act, the company had given fine of $54,000 for each of the contravention. Thus, it
had been achieved from the case of Australian food delivery service Foodora that workers in the
gig economy were not treated as employees and not all of the facilities were provided to them as
per the requirements.
Implications for Terms and Conditions of Employment and Other Items, e.g. OHS
Compliance, Social Inclusion / Workforce Participation
The impact of the gig economy on the nature of employment at present is huge. Traditional job
means a job, which is full-time and stable, where the employees get a certain amount of security
in the job along with health security, pensions after retirement, etc. In the recent time, there is a
surge in this gig economy, where the job offered is part-time, or else they are contractual for a
certain period19. In this economy, the workers do not have any fixed salary. Instead, they are
offered salaries based on the amount of work they delivered, and that amount is very low
compared to the full-time workers. It means they get none of the facilities or benefits which full-
time workers enjoy. To make the life of these gig economy little more secure, some laws are
made on labor rights and some terms and conditions are also applied.
The Victorian government is starting a new inquiry related to the job safety of the on-demand
workforce. There are instances where the on-demand workers are treated poorly, and also being
19Liu, Kai. "Regulating Occupational Health and Safety in EU and China: From a Comparative Law
Perspective."In Employment Protection Legislation in Emerging Economies, pp. 60.IGI Global, 2018.
15

contractual workers, they are underpaid. The investigation will be done on the workforce, who is
working with online companies and platforms like Uber, Foodora, etc. The reason behind doing
this is protecting the rights of the part-time workers, so that they are also treated equally as other
workers, as well as given certain facilities20. They will inquire about the allegations, and then it
will be determined if all these contractual arrangements are made so that the company can avoid
workplace laws and other statutory obligations. They will work on the enforcement of certain
facilities like superannuation, health, and safety of the people, compensation for accidents, etc.
OHS or Occupational Health and Safety laws are made to protect the health and the safety of the
workers and also other people in the workplace. When a new company starts operating, at first
the employers and the management of that company needs to consult with the OHS. OHS will
help the management and the employer to manage risks occurring at the workplace. In the
Victorian law system, the OHS laws consist of the following laws- Occupational Health and
Safety Act 2004 (Vic), along with the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic)21.
This is applied in all Victorian workplaces. Both of these are very much like the national law
which is being applied in most of the other jurisdictions of the world such as the National Model
Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation.
According to the OHS Act 2004, there are some duties which are imposed on employers,
designers of plants or buildings, importer and suppliers, self-employed persons22. These duties
include not exposing people to such a situation where they may have to face health and safety
related issues. As mentioned in the Act, employers must give employees a reasonably practical
20Jos H., Verbeek, Helena Palmgren, RahmanShiri, and Consol Serra. "Changes in occupational health and safety
service arrangements for increasing the uptake of preventive services in small companies." Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews 11 (2018).p. 3
21IzaskunLarrieta-Rubín, de Celis, Sara Fernández de Bobadilla-Güémez, María del Mar Alonso-Almeida, and Eva
Velasco-Balmaseda. "Women’s occupational health and safety management: An issue for corporate social
responsibility." Safety science 91 (2017): 65.
22Ibid: 3
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working environment, which is safe and does not have any risks regarding health. The
employers along with the self-employed persons should also fulfill the duty of not exposing the
non-workers in any safety-related problem. On the other hand, the employees should take care of
their own and co-workers health and safety.
The OHS Act 2004 also mentions that, in case there occurs a health or safety risk at the
workplace, then the management should be well equipped with the necessary things which help
in effectively managing the situation. And if possible, they should try to eliminate the risk from
its root. To deal with these health and safety risks, the management should discuss with its
employees about how to identify risk, and how to decide while dealing with them. While
consulting, the workers should be allowed to share their views, and those views should be taken
into account before making a decision. There must be a Health and Safety Representative (HSR)
in each workgroup at the time of occurrence of issues, the HSR will take it to the management
and ask for rectification of the issue23. Discrimination should never be encouraged, and in case
an employee is found guilty, his work will be ceased after consulting the employer.
The gig economic model is seen influencing the flexible jobs, which are having hiring
independent contractors in the place of full-time employees. Gig economy is depending upon the
labor markets. Due to this reason, they are seen working with labor rights and laws. On the other
hand, it was noticed that in place of regular salaries, the permanent jobs were dealing with gigs
when it comes in paying a return24. Therefore, it can be said that the gig economy is stressed on
23Andrew, Stewart and Jim Stanford. "Regulating work in the gig economy: What are the options?." The Economic
and Labour Relations Review 28, no. 3 (2017): 430.
24Fang Lee,Cooke and Yumei Jiang. "The growth of non‐standard employment in Japan and South Korea: the role
of institutional actors and impact on workers and the labour market." Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 55,
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the full-time employment of workers in a traditional form. In the areas of the workforce
participation, it was noticed that work is usually divided into some tasks. In this process, workers
were seen contracting for their particular tasks, despite, moving on with the work. Apart from
this, it was also noticed that the work was going on with the help of a single person or
individuals.
In the case of the profit companies, it was noticed that the labor transactions were between
businesses and workers. The most importantly it was observed that the workers’ rights group was
capable of highlighting the negative aspects of the gig economy are related to the employment
matters. With the help of these workers’ rights, the employees will be able to gain profit.
According to the workers’ rights group, it was observed that the in the laws of workforce
participation, some of the benefits are missing such as in the security of income, superannuation
paid leave and accident insurance. From the recent study report of the Australian Bureau of
Statistics (ABS), it was observed that there were around 265, 000 independent contractors in
Victoria during August 2017. After that around 3,213, 000 people were employed in the same
period increasing the employment rate to 8 percent of the total working condition25. Apart from
this, in other data in Australia, it was observed that about 8.2 percent employed people were
identical according to the Victorian Figure.
no. 2 (2017): 160.
25Willem Pieter, De Groen, Zachary Kilhoffer, KarolienLenaerts, and Elias Felten. "Digital Age. Employment and
working conditions of selected types of platform work. National context analysis: Austria. CEPS Special Report, 2
July 2018." (2018). p.8
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In related to the Uber and Foodora riders, it was noticed that the employees were not treated as
employees in many cases. They are considered independent contractors. Their occupation is not
a permanent one; rather it is temporary work. In this case, employment work participation is
mentioned. According to the regulation act, it was noticed that the Australian Tax Office is of
great significance. A meeting was formed in 2017, where the Senate was responsible for stating
about the employment laws, among which, one was the Fair Work Act 200926. In this, it was
noticed that such laws were conducted keeping in an aim to improve the workforce participation
— the laws states about the government’s procurement and practices of employment.
On the other hand, it was also noticed that according to the Victorian law, Independent
Contractors Act 2006 would be used for improving the ways of employment. Therefore, with the
help of such laws, the gig economy was successful in providing secured to these independent
contractors for their betterment. Protection of employees’ rights was also used for rating the level
of part-time work and casual work. In a recent survey, it was noticed that the Fair Work
Ombudsman inaugurated legal proceedings, which were especially against the food delivery
service, Fedora27. This, in turn, stated that the company is dealing with sham contracting, which
resulted in the underpayment of almost three workers. It can be said that just like this case, the
other gig economy businesses can also get hampered. Later it was observed that many of them
were stating that gig-economy labor market is not working according to the employment laws.
On the other hand, it can be observed that the main framework of the gig economy is helping to
regulate the traditional labor regulation according to the laws of Australia. Majority of the
26Ibid: 7
27Willem Pieter, De Groen, KarolienLenaerts, RomainBosc, and Felix Paquier."Impact of digitalisation and the on-
demand economy on labour markets and the consequences for employment and industrial relations.Final Study.
CEPS Special Report, August 2017." (2017). p. 2
19

contractors were seen not having any rights in related to their wages. This, in turn, typically
includes the paid and sick leave, maximum weekly hours, and unfair dismissal protections. In the
2015 ACT Taxi Innovation Review, it was observed that Uber was avoiding the service
providers by mentioning the standard working rights28. In another case, it was noticed that
according to the Fair Work Commission of Uber, it was noticed that drivers are never the
employees. This was caused because of the agreement that was caused between the online
platforms and service providers, which was under the common law. In the case of the Uber
drivers, it was noticed that the agreement of services was said to be among the leading
generation services and they were not the work and wages bargainers. Therefore, it can be said
that the earning rate according to gig economy is differentiated as independent contractors other
than the employees. Thus, many of the rights were missing in these matters, which were of great
importance to them.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be understood that the present time belongs to the generation
where everybody wants all the facilities instantly. More importantly, those facilities are available
and are only a click away because every day new mobile or computer applications are being
made to make the life of the human a little easier. However, if the matter is thought a little
deeper, then some internal things can be understood. Most of the applications related to travel;
food and shopping websites require delivery within a very short period. The mobile application,
28Katharina, Baumgarten and Stephan Kunz."Re-thinking greening TVET for traditional industries in Asia-the
integration of a less-skilled labour force into green supply chains." (2016). p. 7
20

Uber ride offers a facility to book a car whenever it is needed. Also, the food app Foodora offers
food delivery at home within a very short period.
When it is thought proper, it can be seen, that to fulfill the needs of the customers, the company
has to employ a large number of workers. If there is a surge in the number of orders, then the
number of employees needed also increase. On the contrary, if the number of orders is less, then
the employees need to be much lesser than the previous. It means, by the amount of work, the
company has to hire employees who may work as drivers of the cars, or as the food delivery
person. This amount of work may vary from time to time. As a result, there are seasons where
they need a higher number of employees, like during the festive season. So, the company hires
many employees to deal with the needs of the customers. But sadly, after the end of the season,
the demand also decreases, and so is the need of the employees. At that particular time, the
company starts laying off its employees.
From the incident above, it is clear, that the work of these employees is highly unstable. And
also, they have nearly zero job security. The studies done show that the company can get away
by doing these because the type of jobs they offer cannot be regarded as real jobs. So, they can
avoid punishment by stating that they are doing nothing out of the law. By understanding the
changing need of the present, it can be understood that this “gig economy” is here to stay. But as
the nature of this economy is very different from the traditional way of economy, so while
applying different laws of the workplace, difficulties are faced by the employees. As a result,
even if the workers get underpaid, or not compensated after meeting an accident, they lack the
opportunity to take the case to court.
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To deal with these problems, like all other countries the Australian government had also brought
some acts which work on the safety and health risks of the employees of this “gig economy.”
According to the act, the employees should get some basic facilities. They must also be treated as
workers, and so they can have a worker’s associations which will look after the needs of the
workers and also their safety. These acts not only provide safety to the employees, but also to all
the workers and non-workers who may get affected due to work.
22

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