Towards fair gig work: integrating gig work into Scotland's renewed fair work agenda

Purpose This article examines how platform gig work in Scotland, which remains absent from both the fair work agenda, aligns with or diverges from, Scotland's fair work framework. Specifically, it discusses the employment practices in the sector in relation to Scotland's fair work framework five dimensions: voice, opportunity, security, respect and safety. In doing so, this article provides an agenda for Fair Gig Work in Scotland. Design/methodology/approach The article draws on a mixed-methods research design that combines 211 survey data collected between December 2022 and December 2023 and 39 semi-structured interviews with platform food delivery workers between 2019 and the end of 2023. Findings Findings show a strong misalignment between the lived realities of platform-based food delivery work in Scotland and the ambitions of the fair work framework. Specifically, they highlight the systematic erosion of effective voice in gig work, the narrow and unevenly distributed opportunity for gig workers, the embedded insecurity and absence of fulfilment in the sector, which reinforce broader critiques of precarious digital labour and the lack of respect and safety, with alarming widespread reports of harassment, threats, unsafe road conditions and lack of institutional protection. Originality/value This article provides a reflective analysis of fair work in Scotland's platform gig economy, arguing that a deeper understanding is needed on how the employment practices deployed in the sector contribute (or fail to contribute) to Scotland's fair work vision. The article highlights the need for the integration of platform work into Scotland's renewed Fair work agenda.