The Urgency of a Special Regulation for Gig Workers: Addressing Legal Gaps in Contemporary Industrial Relations

Abstract

The rapid development of the gig economy in Indonesia has fundamentally transformed the structure of employment relations and posed significant challenges to the national labor law system, which remains oriented toward conventional forms of employment. This study aims to analyze the existing legal gaps in the protection of gig workers, assess the adequacy of the current positive legal framework, and formulate the urgency of establishing a special regulation that is adaptive to the dynamics of contemporary industrial relations. The research employs a normative juridical method using statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches. The findings reveal that Indonesia has not yet established any legal instrument explicitly governing the status and protection of gig workers. Gig workers are classified as partners or independent contractors, and therefore excluded from normative labor rights such as social security, minimum wage, occupational safety, and access to industrial dispute resolution mechanisms. The algorithm-based employment model creates a form of concealed subordination, generating economic dependency that is not legally recognized. This condition results in a regulatory deficit, weakening workers’ bargaining power and the overall sustainability of the national industrial relations system. The study recommends strategic measures, Reformulation of the definition of employment relationships in positive law, including the establishment of a specific regulation for platform-based employment relations, the expansion of social security coverage for gig workers, and the development of digital-based dispute resolution mechanisms. Accordingly, the creation of a special regulation for gig workers constitutes a national strategic necessity to close existing legal gaps and reinforce social justice within industrial relations in the digital economy era.