Bridging Flexibility and Vulnerability in the Gig Economy:Regulatory Sandboxing as an Instrument for Determining Ideal Social Protectionfor Gig Workers
Keywords:
gig workers social protection regulatory sandboxing flexibility vulnerabilityAbstract
The legal relationship of gig workers lies at the intersection of a partnership model and employment model. This allows for debate, tension, and friction between the two regulatory regimes, including determining which social protection is more ideal to provide, whether in the position of worker or partner. In some cases, gig workers face the same vulnerabilities and occupational risks as regular workers. However, the flexibility of gig workers in determining their working hours, wages, etc., distinguishes them from regular workers who are bound by various rules and controls from their employers. This study examines the impact of the flexibility characteristics of gig workers on determining the ideal provision of social protection for gig workers based on work vulnerabilities and risks, as well as the instrumentalization of regulatory sandboxing on these impacts. Using literature study analysis in the form of secondary data and comparative policy analysis, this study compares models of employment relations in the gig economy broadly, not only focusing on digital work platforms, and the implementation of regulatory sandboxing in the digital financial services sector. The research results show that due to the varying flexibility characteristics, there are differences in the levels of work vulnerability and risks between gig worker relationship models in one company and another. This diversity presents challenges and obstacles in determining the ideal social protection for gig workers. Therefore, the use of the regulatory sandboxing method can be an adaptive and fair solution in formulating ideal social protection for gig workers by bridging the characteristics of gig workers' flexibility with the level of work vulnerability and risks in each model that vary on a case-by-case basis. This paper recommends the importance of developing flexible social protection standards in line with the level of vulnerability amidst the flexibility of gig workers, by developing regulatory sandboxing.
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