Abstract
The platform economy has transformed the lines of labour in the last few years across both developed and developing countries. In the case of other countries, such as Indonesia and India, where informal employment has been a long-standing characteristic of the labour force, the rise of digital platforms, including Gojek, Grab, Swiggy, and Zomato, has added another layer of complexity to already existing labour issues. These services provide flexibility and earning potential, albeit in exchange for social safety nets and work rights. This paper undertakes a doctrinal and comparative socio-legal study to observe the way the legal jurisdictions of Indonesia and India are adapting to the emergence of platform-based gig work. Grounded on legal pluralism and access to justice approaches, the present research analyses the sufficiency of the existing labour laws regarding the changing characteristics of digital labour. Such statutory instruments, such as the Indonesia Omnibus Law on Job Creation or the India Code on Social Security, 2020, are used in the analysis to compare the way platform labour and its entitlements are conceptualised in different jurisdictions. Instead of conducting empirical data collection in the field, the study centres on legal sources, policy documents, and judicial opinions with the aim of finding out the normative premises behind whether the regulation of platforms is done. The research concludes that both states are prolific legislators with the tendency to implement economic liberalisation rather than labour rights, although rarely taking into consideration the vulnerability of the gig workers in the legal rhetoric. Through a socio-legal perspective, this paper indicates the contradictions between technological advancement, the dignity of workers, and legal responsibility. It demands the reconsideration of binary employment regimes and proposes implementing hybrid regulatory regimes that will consider the special status of platform workers. Finally, the article adds to the discourse of labour justice in the digital world a global south perspective that asks all policymakers to design legislation that is not total in its market-driven orientation but in social justice and equality of access to the law.
Bahasa Abstract
Ekonomi platform telah mengubah lanskap ketenagakerjaan dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, baik di negara maju maupun berkembang. Di negara-negara seperti Indonesia dan India, di mana pekerjaan informal telah lama menjadi ciri khas angkatan kerja, kemunculan platform digital seperti Gojek, Grab, Swiggy, dan Zomato menambah lapisan kompleksitas baru terhadap persoalan ketenagakerjaan yang sudah ada sebelumnya. Layanan-layanan ini memang menawarkan fleksibilitas dan potensi penghasilan, namun sering kali dengan mengorbankan jaminan sosial dan hak-hak kerja. Artikel ini menggunakan pendekatan doktrinal dan studi sosio-legal komparatif untuk menelaah bagaimana yurisdiksi hukum di Indonesia dan India beradaptasi terhadap munculnya pekerjaan berbasis platform. Dengan berlandaskan pada teori pluralisme hukum dan pendekatan akses terhadap keadilan, penelitian ini menganalisis sejauh mana hukum ketenagakerjaan yang ada saat ini mampu menjawab perubahan karakteristik kerja digital. Instrumen hukum seperti Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja di Indonesia dan Code on Social Security 2020 di India digunakan sebagai bahan perbandingan untuk melihat bagaimana masing-masing negara memaknai pekerjaan platform dan hak-hak yang melekat padanya. Alih-alih menggunakan pengumpulan data empiris lapangan, penelitian ini berfokus pada sumber hukum, dokumen kebijakan, dan putusan pengadilan guna mengungkap dasar normatif di balik pengaturan platform digital. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kedua negara tersebut merupakan legislator yang produktif, namun cenderung lebih mengedepankan liberalisasi ekonomi dibandingkan perlindungan hak-hak pekerja, serta jarang mempertimbangkan kerentanan pekerja gig dalam wacana hukum mereka. Melalui perspektif sosio-legal, tulisan ini menyoroti kontradiksi antara kemajuan teknologi, martabat pekerja, dan tanggung jawab hukum. Artikel ini menyerukan perlunya peninjauan ulang terhadap rezim hubungan kerja yang bersifat biner, serta mengusulkan pembentukan rezim regulasi hibrida yang mempertimbangkan status khusus pekerja platform. Pada akhirnya, penelitian ini memberikan kontribusi terhadap diskursus keadilan ketenagakerjaan di era digital dari perspektif Global South, dengan menyerukan agar para pembuat kebijakan merancang peraturan perundang-undangan yang tidak semata-mata berorientasi pada pasar, melainkan juga pada keadilan sosial dan kesetaraan akses terhadap hukum.
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Recommended Citation
Shekhawat, Vidisha and Khare, Pranjal
(2025)
"Legal Protections for Gig Workers: A Comparative Socio-legal Study of Indonesia and India,"
The Indonesian Journal of Socio-Legal Studies: Vol. 5:
No.
1, Article 2.
DOI: 10.54828/ijsls.2025v5n1.2
Available at:
https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/ijsls/vol5/iss1/2
