Integrating Gig Workers into the National Occupational Safety and Health System: Challenges and Policy Directions in Indonesia

Abstract

This study examines the challenges and policy directions for integrating gig workers into Indonesia’s National Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) system. Although they play an increasingly significant role in the digital economy, gig workers remain largely excluded from OSH governance and social protection. Using a qualitative descriptive–analytical approach, the study explores regulatory gaps, institutional constraints, and workers’ perceptions of occupational risks. Findings reveal that existing regulations—especially Law No. 1/1970 on Occupational Safety and Law No. 13/2003 on Manpower—are still workplace- and employer-oriented, assuming stable employment relations that no longer reflect non-standard forms of work such as dependent self-employment and platform-mediated labor. Consequently, most gig workers operate beyond preventive OSH governance and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan coverage. Addressing this requires a shift toward worker-centered governance emphasizing portable protection, shared responsibility, and adaptive regulatory frameworks that link state oversight with platform accountability. The ongoing review of Indonesia’s core labor laws offers an opportunity to institutionalize these principles. Drawing on global OSH reflections and international practices (ILO, OECD, ASEAN), the study underscores the urgency of affirmative, inclusive policies to ensure decent and safe work for all. Integrating gig workers is not merely a legal adjustment but a strategic step toward an adaptive, equitable, and sustainable labor protection system in the digital era.