Islamabad, (Parliament Times) : The platform economy has grown quickly in Pakistan in recent years. Given Pakistan’s youth population (more than 60% under the age of 30) and nearly four million youth entering the working-age population every year, the platform economy can be an engine for employment growth in the country. Platform work can provide easier access to the labour market and employment opportunities for vulnerable groups and those traditionally excluded from the labour market, such as youth, women, and minorities. The platform workers are currently classified as “independent contractors” and do not have access to any labour rights that are reserved for “workers” under the labour laws. Misclassifying these workers has consequences for the workers by restricting access to existing labour and social security rights and leading to worker exploitation.
Centre for Labour Research is working with the Fairwork Foundation, University of Oxford, UK, to promote the rights of platform workers. The Centre organized a stakeholder consultation workshop on 30 May 2023 to promote fair labour practices and decent work in the gig or platform economy. The workshop brought together representatives from various stakeholder groups, including government agencies (Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Islamabad Labour Department), labour rights organizations (Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research), representatives of the International Labour Organization, digital platform companies, worker representatives (Pakistan Workers Federation), and researchers. The participants discussed the current challenges faced by gig workers in Pakistan and explored potential solutions to improve working conditions and create a fairer platform economy by enacting necessary legislation in the form of the Islamabad Capital Territory Platform Workers Protection Bill 2023. There are seven to ten lakh location-based platform workers in the country.
The lead researcher and founder of the Centre for Labour Research, Iftikhar Ahmad, presented an overview of the platform economy and the need for regulation. He also gave a detailed presentation on regulatory best practices for legislation in the platform economy. This was followed by a comprehensive discussion of the draft legislation that the Centre for Labour Research has been working on for the last one and a half years. If enacted, the legislation would require platforms to provide written employment contracts to their workers, pay a minimum wage, and allow workers to unionize and bargain collectively. The legislation also has provisions on occupational safety and health, equal treatment of workers without any discrimination, algorithmic management, transparency and personal data protection. The proposed legislation also requires setting up a platform workers’ protection council with the representation of all stakeholders.
“As a government representative, I am pleased to see the Centre for Labour Research take proactive steps to address the needs of gig economy workers. We look forward to collaborating with the Centre and other stakeholders to implement this legislation and support the growth of the gig economy.” Said Mr Azhar Malik, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of OP&HRD. Another government representative said that the “The legislation drafted by Centre for Labour Research is a welcome development for the gig economy in Pakistan. It demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that platform workers are not left behind and are provided with the necessary protections and benefits they need to thrive in the industry.”
Ms Zahida Parveen from the Pakistan Workers Federation and Dr Lubna Shehnaz Umer, a member of the Minimum Wages Board, Punjab, also acknowledged the importance of protecting the rights of platform workers and stated their commitment to working with the Centre for Labour Research to develop legislation that ensures fair working conditions for all workers, including those in the platform economy. The ILO representative, Mr Saghir Bukhari, also supported the idea of enactment of legislation and provided valuable inputs to improve the draft.
The Centre for Labour Research will continue to engage with all stakeholders to promote the rights of platform workers in Pakistan.
