G20 Policy Priorities on Adequate and Sustainable Social Protection and Decent Work for Gig and Platform Workers
G20 Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting
Indore, India, July 21, 2023
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Platform and gig workers often face significant social protection gaps and inadequate access to labour rights in many countries, which were aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognise that providing adequate and sustainable social protection for all, including platform and gig workers, is important to promote decent working conditions, eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities, ensure income security and access to health care services, as well as for efficiently functioning labour markets, fair competition, and provision of services of high quality. Social protection is one of the critical pillars of decent work in increasingly flexible labour markets.
We recognize that fostering adequate sustainable social protection and decent work for platform and gig workers is closely linked to broader issues related to the regulation of these forms of work. These include the appropriate classification of employment status, relevant employment protection, provisions that provide support to participate in labour market and adequate earnings. They may also pertain to occupational safety and health, ensuring the transparency, accountability, and fairness of algorithmic decisions, protection of workers' data and rights, respecting healthy work-life balance, hours of work, and access for social partners to gig and platform workers. In addition to these, they may also include the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining and social dialogue.
We renew our commitment to promote adequate and sustainable social protection for all workers in the gig and platform economy with inclusive and sustainable national social protection systems in consultation with social partners and other stakeholders. In doing so, we will continue to be responsive to the special needs of low wage earners and those in vulnerable situations and build effective institutional capacities that promote age and gender responsive and disability inclusive social protection systems.
Building on previous LEM declarations[1] as well as on relevant international labour standards, such as the ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation No. 202 (2012), we agree on the following set of policy priorities, in order to provide effective access to adequate and sustainable social protection for platform and gig workers in all types of employment:
Increase efforts to secure the necessary legal certainty for workers and employers, ensuring the correct classification of employment status, and adequate social protection and decent work for workers in all types of employment including gig and platform workers.
Work towards providing effective access to social protection systems for gig and platform workers, particularly health care services and income security schemes, including in case of unemployment, maternity, employment injury, sickness, occupational diseases, old age, disability, loss of the income provider and for the maintenance and care of other persons, including children, particularly during global crises/crisis situations.
Cover platform and gig workers with social protection frameworks to effectively protect their rights, considering the specificities of work undertaken through digital platforms, and the national contexts, and promoting inclusive solutions that avoid fragmentation of the social protection system.
Promote developing and guaranteeing access to adequate levels of social protection to all including platform and gig workers through national social protection systems, including floors and work towards ensuring sustainable financing of such systems.
Adopt, adapt and strengthen measures to bring all platform and gig workers under the umbrella of social protection systems as necessary. These could include facilitated registration and contribution payment mechanisms with adequate online tools for easy access; flexible contribution collection for workers working with or for multiple platforms; mechanisms for data sharing and enhanced dialogue between digital platforms and public authorities; public awareness campaigns; considering national and international portability mechanisms, and encouraging investment in the digital and technological capacities of implementing agencies of the respective countries.
Promote, as appropriate, sharing of responsibilities of all parties involved including government, platforms and workers to ensure the equitable and sustainable financing of adequate social protection of gig and platform workers.
Strengthen compliance by platforms with respect to their social protection obligations including their contributory obligations as per our respective legal frameworks, promote systematic interconnections between platforms' systems, registration and contribution collection mechanisms where relevant, and leveraging the digital nature of the platforms.
Work towards promoting social protection across borders for online platform workers, including through bilateral or multilateral agreements, where appropriate. This may include determining and effectively enforcing applicable labour and social protection frameworks and developing new ones, especially with respect to financing responsibilities and arrangements, and considering the portability of social protection rights and benefits.
Work towards fairness, transparency and oversight of algorithmic decision-making processes and adequate protection of workers' personal data and the right to privacy, as well as involving workers' representatives when appropriate.
[1] In particular the Policy Recommendations for Promoting More Equitable and Sustainable Social Protection Systems (China, 2016), G20 Priorities on the Future of Work (Germany, 2017), the Guidelines and Principles for developing comprehensive social protection strategies (Argentina, 2018), and the Policy Options for Adapting Social Protection to Reflect the Changing Patterns of Work (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2020), the G20 Policy Principles to ensure access to adequate social protection for all in a changing world of work (Italy, 2021), the G20 Policy Options to enhance regulatory frameworks for remote working arrangements and work through digital platforms (Italy, 2021), and the G20 Policy Principles on Adapting Labour Protection for More Effective Protection and Increased Resilience for All Workers (Indonesia, 2021). ↩
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