New Work, Old Gaps. Rethinking Social Protection for the Platform Economy

As platform work continues to reshape labour markets, policymakers face growing pressure to ensure workers are protected without relying on traditional employment models.

To examine how countries are responding to this challenge, FutureWORKS Collective hosted a webinar titled New Work, Old Gaps. Rethinking Social Protection for the Platform Economy, to discuss emerging regulatory approaches, financing mechanisms, and the future of social protection in the platform economy.

The discussion was moderated by Aditi Surie, who led a comparative conversation with experts from Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and India on the opportunities and challenges of designing inclusive social protection systems for platform workers.

Key Insights from Ramiro Albrieu

Ramiro Albrieu, representing the Latin American perspective, explored how governments across the region are experimenting with pragmatic approaches to platform worker protection despite significant data gaps.

• Governments continue to face major blind spots in understanding who platform workers are and the risks they face, making policymaking difficult.
• Many Latin American countries are adopting a minimum rights approach, prioritising a basic floor of protections before pursuing broader labour reforms.
• Countries are taking different regulatory paths based on their broader labour market philosophies, with Chile, Uruguay and Argentina demonstrating contrasting models.
• Uruguay offers a notable example of pragmatic regulation by partnering with platforms to improve worker registration and data-sharing while strengthening social protection systems.
• New regulations in Uruguay are expanding beyond labour protections to include platform transparency, algorithmic explainability and worker data rights.
• Effective implementation matters as much as legislation, as strong legal protections alone do not guarantee meaningful access to services.

Key Insights from Ruth Castel-Branco

Ruth Castel-Branco provided perspectives from Southern and Eastern Africa, arguing that social protection should be understood not only as risk management but also as a tool for redistribution and social justice.

• Social protection should reduce inequality, support workers throughout the life cycle and distribute responsibility fairly between workers, employers and the state.
• Current social insurance schemes often place the financial burden almost entirely on workers, resulting in low participation and limited benefits.
• Voluntary contributory schemes have struggled because they often fail to meet workers’ immediate needs or compete with existing informal savings and cooperative systems.
• Platform companies’ access to extensive worker data creates an opportunity for more efficient contribution systems, making political commitment, not administrative capacity, the primary barrier.
• Financing mechanisms must move beyond worker-only contributions towards more redistributive models involving governments and platforms.
• Successful platform worker protections require both adequate benefits and trust in public institutions.

Key Insights from Gayani Hurulle

Gayani Hurulle examined policy developments across South and Southeast Asia, highlighting the diversity of approaches governments are taking to extend protections to platform workers.

• Most countries still rely on voluntary platform-provided benefits, with limited statutory requirements for social protection.
• Singapore, Malaysia and India illustrate different regulatory models, ranging from contributory social insurance schemes to welfare board mechanisms.
• Most reforms continue to focus on ride-hailing and delivery workers, leaving many online and cloud-based platform workers outside existing protections.
• Automated contribution systems improve compliance but do not eliminate affordability challenges for workers with fluctuating incomes.
• Singapore’s phased contribution model demonstrates how governments can gradually expand coverage while easing financial pressures on workers.
• Smaller countries continue to face significant enforcement challenges when regulating global digital platforms.

Key Insights from Anita Manoharan

Anita Manoharan discussed India’s evolving policy framework and emphasised the need to move beyond fragmented protections towards universal social security systems.

• India’s Code on Social Security formally recognises gig and platform workers as a separate legal category and requires platform contributions to welfare funds.
• States such as Karnataka are pioneering welfare boards and grievance mechanisms, although implementation remains in its early stages.
• India’s digital infrastructure, including the eShram portal, provides an important foundation but still suffers from integration and portability challenges.
• Existing welfare systems should be strengthened rather than creating increasingly fragmented categories of workers.
• Technology and digital infrastructure are valuable tools, but effective delivery depends on clear institutional vision and implementation.
• Universal social protection frameworks are ultimately needed to ensure workers remain protected regardless of employment status or platform affiliation.

The discussion underscored that while governments are developing diverse approaches to social protection for platform workers, lasting solutions will require universal systems that extend beyond traditional employment relationships. Participants agreed that meaningful protections depend on equitable financing, stronger platform accountability, improved data governance, and implementation models that recognise the realities of increasingly diverse and digital forms of work.