Systematic evaluation of gig work against decent work standards: The development and application of the Fairwork framework

Richard Heeks,Mark Graham,Paul Mungai,Jean-Paul Van Belle,Jamie Woodcock

doi:10.1080/01972243.2021.1942356

Richard Heeks, Mark Graham + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2021.1942356

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Abstract

Growth of gig work – short-term tasks organized and mediated by digital labor platforms such as Uber and Upwork – is the focus for an increasing body of research. Yet there has been a lack of systematic frameworks that could evaluate this type of labor against decent work standards, and inform consumers and others about relative adherence to those standards across platforms and sectors. In this article we report the development of the “Fairwork framework”, based on five decent work principles of fair pay, conditions, contracts, management, and representation. The framework and its associated methodology were first field-tested in South Africa and we report on its use to rate seven gig economy platforms. A league table of platforms was widely publicized and one platform was persuaded to improve working conditions. We reflect on the use and content of the framework, and its role in future action research on decent gig work.

Highlights

Gig work – short-term tasks organized and mediated by digital labor platforms such as Uber and Upwork – is a significant form of work that has emerged in recent years
In this article we report on and analyze an action research programme – “Fairwork” – which has developed a new framework of decent gig work standards, applied that in a first location (South Africa), and publicly disseminated the resultant information as a platform “league table”
The average for our interview sample was 71 hours per week. This was more than 50% longer than the maximum 45-hour working week specified by South Africa’s Basic Conditions of Employment Act (Republic of South Africa 1997)

Summary

Introduction

Gig work – short-term tasks organized and mediated by digital labor platforms such as Uber and Upwork – is a significant form of work that has emerged in recent years. Absence of gig workers from most official statistics means estimates of size vary considerably but there is general consensus that tens of millions of workers are employed in the gig economy worldwide, and that growth rates are relatively high (e.g., Mastercard and Kaiser Associates 2019; Schwellnus et al 2019). This expansion has been matched by growing data on gig work (e.g., Aloisi 2015; Berg 2016; Heeks 2017; Prassl 2018; Woodcock and Graham 2019). There are growing concerns that the gig economy may drive an erosion of employment standards, and may exacerbate social inequalities (Graham, Hjorth, and Lehdonvirta 2017; Krzywdzinski and Gerber 2020)

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