Legal Protection for Gig Workers in the Digital Economy: A Critical Review of Labor Relations in Indonesia
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The rapid growth of the digital economy in Indonesia has given rise to gig work arrangements, characterized by short-term, task-based employment facilitated through online platforms. While offering flexibility and new income opportunities, gig work often operates outside the scope of traditional labor laws, leaving workers without adequate legal protection. This study employs a normative legal analysis to critically review Indonesia’s industrial relations framework in addressing the rights and obligations of gig workers. The research examines relevant national legislation, judicial decisions, and comparative legal approaches from other jurisdictions, alongside international labor standards. Findings reveal that the current legal framework is insufficient to address the unique characteristics of platform-mediated work, resulting in legal uncertainty over employment classification, limited access to social protection, and weak collective bargaining rights. Drawing from comparative models and ILO conventions, the study recommends legal reforms to define gig work, introduce hybrid employment categories, extend mandatory social protection coverage, recognize gig worker associations, and establish specialized dispute resolution mechanisms. These measures are essential for balancing labor protection with the flexibility and innovation of the digital economy in Indonesia.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
S. Li, “Becoming A Market Participant: Risk Calculation and Farmers’ Acculturation to Market Transition in China,” Sociol. Dev., vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 263–284, 2023.
R. Artecona and T. Chau, “Labour issues in the digital economy,” 2017.
F. D. A. Alauddin, A. Aman, M. F. Ghazali, and S. Daud, “The influence of digital platforms on gig workers: A systematic literature review,” Heliyon, vol. 11, no. 1, 2025.
N. K. A. S. Undari and H. Sugiyama, “Gig Economy Worker’s Legal Status: Employee or Independent Contractor?,” Focus J. Law Rev., vol. 4, no. 1, 2024.
N. R. Izzati and M. M. G. Sesunan, “‘Misclassified Partnership’and the Impact of Legal Loophole on Workers,” Bestuur, 2022.
M. Stevania and S. H. Hoesin, “Analisis Kepastian Hukum Jaminan Sosial Ketenagakerjaan Bagi Gig Worker Pada Era Gig Economy Di Indonesia,” J. Ilm. Penegakan Huk., vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 268–277, 2024.
M. Simanjuntak and A. H. P. K. Putra, “Theoretical implications of theory planned behavior on purchasing decisions: A bibliometric review,” Golden Ratio Mapp. Idea Lit. Format, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 101–107, 2021.
T. C. Christiyono, M. Tohari, and W. D. Suryandari, “Reorientation of regulation to accommodate the status of online driver workers,” Indones. J. Multidiscip. Sci., vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 89–96, 2024.
A. C. Edwards, Labor regulations and industrial relations in Indonesia. World Bank Publications, 1996.
J. Duggan, “Gig work and the platform economy,” A Res. Agenda Work Employ., pp. 155–171, 2024.
P. M. C. Lin, K.-L. Peng, W. C. Wilson Au, and T. Baum, “Labor market transformation in the hospitality gig economy in a post pandemic era: impacts of institutional governance,” Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag., vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 1490–1510, 2023.
A. Bateyo, “The gig economy: implications for workforce management,” Hum. Resour. Manag. Rev., 2025.
R. K. Putra, A. S. Ramadhan, T. Imalia, and G. Widhiati, “Perlindungan Hukum bagi Pekerja Gig Economy: Perspektif Hukum Perdata di Indonesia,” Perkara J. Ilmu Huk. dan Polit., vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 553–564, 2024.
S. Panjaitan and R. Ritonga, “Analisis Perlindungan Hukum Bagi Pekerja Informal Dalam Perspektif Hukum Ketenagakerjaan,” Doktrin J. Dunia Ilmu Huk. dan Polit., vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 250–262, 2024.
C. Manning and K. Roesad, “The Manpower Law of 2003 and its implementing regulations: Genesis, key articles and potential impact,” Bull. Indones. Econ. Stud., vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 59–86, 2007.
S. Palmer, “Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining,” Citeseer, 2003.
S. Permana, T. Subarsyah, and E. Firdatunnisa, “Implementation of Article 87 Law Number 2 of 2004 Concerning Resolution of Industrial Relations in the Court of Industrial Relations in Article of the Republic of Indonesia,” Int. J. Sci. Soc., vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 198–211, 2020.
A. P. Larion, “Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining in ILO regulations,” USV Ann. Econ. Public Adm., vol. 16, no. 1 (23), pp. 226–232, 2016.
T. Novitz, “Collective labour rights for working people,” The Cambridge Handbook of Labor in Competition Law. Cambridge University Press Cambridge, pp. 14–33, 2022.
M. A. Camilleri, “International Labour Organization,” Camilleri, MA (2015). Int. Labour Organ. Idowu, SO, Capaldi, N., Fifka, M., Zu, L., Schmidpeter, R.(Eds.) Dict. Corp. Soc. Responsib. CSR, Sustain. Ethics Governance, Springer Int. Publ. https//www. springer. com/gp/book/978331910, 2015.
A. Stewart and S. McCrystal, “Labour regulation and the great divide: does the gig economy require a new category of worker?,” 2019.
N. Tatulashvili, “Implementation of the Core ILO Standards, the Right to Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining at the National Level–Comparative Study of Poland and Georgia,” 2011.
A. Todolí-Signes, “The ‘gig economy’: employee, self-employed or the need for a special employment regulation?,” Transf. Eur. Rev. Labour Res., vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 193–205, 2017.
V. Chamola, V. Hassija, S. Gupta, A. Goyal, M. Guizani, and B. Sikdar, “Disaster and pandemic management using machine learning: a survey,” IEEE Internet Things J., vol. 8, no. 21, pp. 16047–16071, 2020.
M. A. Cherry and A. Aloisi, “Dependent contractors in the gig economy: A comparative approach,” Am. UL Rev., vol. 66, p. 635, 2016.
L. J. Fendrick, “A Third Class of Worker: The Dependent Contractor,” 2018.
O. Kamarudin and A. Arif, “Ekonomi Gig: Peluang Dan Tantangan Di Era Kerja Fleksibel,” Curr. (Jurnal Ekon. Dan Perbank. Syariah), vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 362–373, 2024.
M. Y. Permana and N. R. Izzati, “Measuring the gig economy in Indonesia: typology, characteristics, and distribution,” Media Wahyudi, Meas. Gig Econ. Indones. Typology, Charact. Distrib. (February 6, 2023), 2023.
L. Gasparėnienė, R. Remeikienė, L. Staver, and A. Paliukėnas, “The role of trade unions in representing workers on digital labor platforms,” Economica., no. 3, pp. 95–114, 2024.
W. Oey, “Misklasifikasi Hubungan Kerja Pengemudi Ojek Online (platform Worker) Di Indonesia,” Verit. Justitia, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 153–178, 2024.
S. Chayya, “The employment status of uber drivers: Comparing approaches by courts in the United Kingdom and South Africa,” J. Juridical Sci., vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 1–16, 2023.
J. Kenner, “Uber drivers are workers: the expanding scope of the worker concept in the UKs gig economy,” in Precarious Work, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019, pp. 197–221.
S. Hardy, “Rise of the ‘Gig Worker’Economy or Just Mending the Legislative Leak?,” Bus. Law Rev., vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 18–23, 2022.
G. Jeong, “Comparative Employment and Labor Law Study: Diverse Approaches Towards Providing Protections for Gig Workers in Various Jurisdictions,” Available SSRN 3973165, 2021.
V. De Stefano and A. Aloisi, “Fundamental labour rights, platform work and human rights protection of non-standard workers,” in Research handbook on labour, business and human rights law, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019, pp. 359–379.
A. Stewart and J. Stanford, “Giving platform workers a say: regulating for voice in the gig economy,” in Missing Voice?, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022, pp. 48–70.
A. Polajžar, “Access of Platform Workers to Collective Rights–the Fall of the Binary Divide?,” Časopis pro právní vědu a praxi, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 195–212, 2024.
C. Stylogiannis, “Freedom of association and collective bargaining in the platform economy: A human rights‐based approach and an ever‐increasing mobilization of workers,” Int. Labour Rev., vol. 162, no. 1, pp. 123–145, 2023.
S. D. Harris, “Workers, protections, and benefits in the US gig economy,” Glob. Law Rev. (Sept. 2018, Forthcoming), 2018.
M. Doherty and V. Franca, “Solving the ‘gig-saw’? Collective rights and platform work,” Ind. Law J., vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 352–376, 2020.
D. Halliday, “On the (mis) classification of paid labor: When should gig workers have employee status?,” Polit. Philos. Econ., vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 229–250, 2021.