We have all seen labourers working different jobs with different bosses regularly. Workers who work temporarily outside the scope of an employer-employee relationship are known as gig workers.
Section 2(35) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 defines a gig worker as someone who performs tasks, participates in work arrangements and earns from such activities independently. This clearly means that they are their own bosses, and according to this definition, even a freelance worker of any profession will also be termed a gig worker. With the current scenario of the population in India, unemployment is the new enemy of the economy. Many have taken up roles of any kind to meet their ends. Therefore, there is a significant rise in the number of freelance workers these days, and it is predicted in research by ASSOCHAM that there will be a 17% rise in the number of gig workers every year and almost 350 million gig jobs in India exclusively. This has opened various legal questions, including those regarding labour laws. The need for separate legislation for the gig workers has put them in a disadvantageous position. Four labour codes were recently introduced to curb this dent. The Code of Social Security, 2020, by the recommendations of the Second National Labour Commission, addresses the laws relating to gig workers. The code, however, does not identify the gig workers as regular employees or the labour force. However, the minimum wage social security benefits and other needs have been duly addressed. Recently, in IFAT v Union of India [WP (C ) 1068/2021], it was noted that a fair minimum wage has to be provided to gig workers also as they do the same amount of work as a regular employee would and cannot be discriminated of such fundamental rights. It will amount to a violation of Articles 14, 21 and 23 of the Constitution. These laws still have many grey areas, including the PoSH guidelines, welfare fund, etc. Streamlining these laws is extremely important, Considering the rapid rise in India.
Done By: Anoushka Samyuktha, B.A LL.B (Hons), LLM (Criminal Law), Junior Legal Consultant
For Origin Law Labs
