Research on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Workers in New Forms of Employment

Abstract

New Forms of Employment Have Emerged with the rapid development of the Internet platform economy. Food delivery workers, ride-hailing drivers and other workers in the gig economy have gradually joined the ranks of employed people and are now subjects of labour protection. A considerable number of workers are still not covered by mandatory social insurance, lack adequate protection for workplace injuries and old-age support, and have not been included in labour relationships due to ambiguous criteria. Legally speaking, the main problems include institutional deficiencies in regulations for social insurance coverage, working hours and minimum wage standards, as well as an absence of comprehensive high-level laws. Enforcement policies do not meet the actual demands of implementation, regulatory supervision fails to reach the required level, and different criteria for recognizing labour relationships lead to inconsistent judicial decisions in similar cases. In response to the problems listed above, a categorized legal system with specialised protection will be developed; a new type of “special labour relationship” will be introduced, and a three-tier assessment system based on the degree of dependency will be established. Strengthen platform accountability and algorithm governance, clarify joint liability, build an open-source system for auditing algorithms, and apply a reversal of the burden of proof rule. Mobile social insurance accounts and independent insurance funds not linked to employment models should also be established, and all-encompassing improvements to occupational injury protection are necessary. Build a rational legal system to promote the development of the platform economy and safeguard the rights of labour.