Laws, Policies, and Collective Agreements Protecting Low-wage and Digital Platform Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this commentary describes and compares shifting employment and occupational health social protections of low-wage workers, including self-employed digital platform workers. Through a focus on eight advanced economy countries, this paper identifies how employment misclassification and definitions of employees were handled in law and policy. Debates about minimum wage and occupational health and safety standards as they relate to worker well-being are considered. Finally, we discuss promising changes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic that protect the health of low-wage and self-employed workers. Overall, we describe an ongoing “haves” and a “have not” divide, with on the one extreme, traditional job arrangements with good work-and-health social protections and, on the other extreme, low-wage and self-employed digital platform workers who are mostly left out of schemes. However, during the pandemic small and often temporary gains occurred and are discussed.

A comparative study of governmental financial support and resilience of self-employed people in Sweden and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The eligibility criteria are strict and benefits are fairly low (up to 55% of the wage, up to a maximum amount) [ 64 ]. It is uncertain how many take this opportunity; many may be unaware of the benefits or lack the finances to afford it [ 36 ]. During the pandemic, the threshold of previous earnings for Canadians was reduced, including a shorter waiting period and easier qualifying rules [ 65 ].…”

“…A key finding from the analysis was that the federal government in Canada aimed to boost the resilience of the self-employed people during the pandemic by providing unemployment insurance (CERB), whereas this was available in Sweden prior to the pandemic. This shows that Canada has the capacity and possibility to provide income protection for self-employed people [ 36 ]. For instance, allowing less strict qualifying terms for unemployment benefits may help reduce the gap in coverage and increase the resilience of self-employed people during periods of difficulty.…”

Occupational outcomes of people with multiple sclerosis during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review with meta-analysis

“…The scientific literature has already described the variety of possibilities of job accommodations that can be applied to the reality of workers with MS to avoid adverse occupational outcomes ( 10 ). Moreover, laws, public policies, and collective agreements stimulated by the authorities may have contributed to preventing the definitive withdrawal of disabled workers from the labor force during this period ( 75 , 76 ).…”

Promoting sustainable employability of employees in low-skilled jobs

“…Chapter 4 describes the development and validation of the adapted MAastricht Instrument of Sustainable Employability (MAISE-Easy), a questionnaire to measure SE among employees in low-skilled jobs. This is an adjusted version of the MAISE-NL 66 and builds on the insights from the literature review on SE (chapter 2) and the focus groups with the target population (chapter 3). The questionnaire is used as a measurement tool within HHR to map the specific problems from an employee perspective that HHR should target and to evaluate the effectiveness of HHR.…”

“…The key role of the employer in Dutch society in recent decades might change in the near future, and a reform to a more universal welfare state might be a solution to become more inclusive. 65,66 Based on the findings in this dissertation and the given contemporary challenges in the Netherlands, three paradigm shifts are needed in practice.…”