Labor’s new frontier: Flexible work with benefits

By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter

A UNIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) academic said he supports the creation of an “independent worker” class of employee with flexible hours but more benefits than the current crop of independent contractors or freelancers.

Such a work arrangement would provide delivery riders engaged by platforms with access to essential protections without compromising their work flexibility.

UP Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations Assistant Professor Benjamin B. Velasco said these riders should be engaged as regular workers covered by the Labor Code and social protections.

Last week by Fairwork Philippines released a study which recommended ensuring that such workers are guaranteed an income equivalent to the minimum wage for eight hours of work as well as social security protections.

Mr. Velasco said such arrangements could form the core elements of a new independent worker category.

“It is sort of a grey area or twilight zone between a regular worker and an independent contractor,” he said via Facebook Messenger.

The Fairwork Philippines study found that ride-hailing and delivery gig workers need to spend extended hours on the road and even then, struggle to net the equivalent of minimum wage. They also take on the burden of investing in their vehicles, exposing them to debt and running costs.

Gig workers are classified as third-party service providers, which can be interpreted by employers to mean that such workers are independent contractors, pointing to the need for amendments to the Labor Code that would recognize such terms of engagement as akin to an employer-employee relationship, Fairwork said.

However, if the government were to regulate the gig economy by requiring gig workers to be classified as either independent workers or regular employees, Mr. Velasco warned that such a move could cause businesses to stop offering such services.

“App companies might pull out due to “restrictive regulation,” but as long as the sector is profitable…  then apps will continue to do business and factor in additional labor costs into their business model,” he added.

Mr. Velasco said if platforms continue operating as usual approach, inequality will worsen.

“In the history of industrial relations — and even environmental and social regulation —without state intervention in the form of labor, environmental and social standards, corporations will not do it on their own,” he said.

Fairwork Philippines urged mandatory coverage for gig workers under the Social Security System and adjustments to social welfare programs to fit their unique circumstances.

Fairwork emphasized the need for Labor Code amendments to recognize gig work as akin to traditional employment, ensuring better protection and benefits.

Fairwork is an action-research project coordinated by the Oxford Internet Institute and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. It evaluates the working conditions on digital platforms and issues ratings.