Platforms and aggregators which hire gig workers should contribute towards their social security, the Labour Ministry had told the Parliamentary Committee on Labour. It had further said that although gig workers have an atypical relationship with their employer, it is "imperative" that the company with “whom he is in work arrangement for a continuous period of time, may also contribute towards his social security”. These comments were made public in the Labour Committee's report submitted to the Parliament on July 31. The Committee had begun examining the 2019 version of the Code on Social Security in December 2019. The expansive bill seeks to introduced reforms in guaranteeing social security of organised and unorganised workers for availing a slew of benefits such as gratuity, insurance, maternity benefits, life insurance, provident fund and so on. The code was drafted to subsume nine labour laws, and in a first, recognised gig workers and platform workers as a distinct class of workers. It now appears that the Labour Ministry has agreed to the committee's suggestions as the ministry's revised bill reportedly creates a social security fund for gig and platform workers. The bill will reportedly require aggregators to mandatorily contribute 2% of their annual turnover to such funds. The government is expected to pass the bill in Parliament this session, which began on September 14. It is unclear which other provisions of the bill have been changed, or which suggestions of the Labour Commitee have been incorporated. Here are the key takeaways around gig…
