A Conceptual Study of Employment Relations in the Gig Economy in India

The gig economy is transforming the work culture, of organizations across the globe. Technological innovation has brought significant changes to work, organization, and employment relationships with positive and negative impacts. Labor laws, freedom of association, and collective bargaining have long sought to balance the unequal relationship between employers and individual workers and enable workers to act collectively to improve their employment and working conditions. For gig workers specifically, many platforms classify them as independent contractors or partners in place of employees and escape all the responsibilities of an employer. In various jurisdictions this employment classification deters workers from forming unions and engaging in collective bargaining. By exploring different research papers this paper illustrates the changing employer-employee relationship, imbalance of power, and conflicting interests between the employer and the employees emanates the need for evolved Employment Relations. This paper takes insights from the industrial relations background in India and addresses the present employment relations situation in the gig economy.