Gig Economy and the Law after Covid

The discussions in this webinar will revolve around the following issues:

a. Digital-Informalization of Labour: Many day jobs, which were the usual employment opportunities for most people, are now being converted into gig work by modern startups (e.g. urbanclap, swiggy or uber). Covid has further entrenched such work. But given the practices of class action waivers, lack of benefits and job security, mandatory arbitration agreements and third party control, what impact will this have on the labour market. How do we use regulations to make it fair?

b. Anti-trust law and Collective Bargaining in the gig economy: Gig economy is on the rise, especially during and after Covid. However, there are multiple unresolved anti-trust issues in this area. Can gig service-providers take collective action? Does the labour exemption in anti-trust extend to them or are they independent-contractors who cannot collectivize?

c. Bias and Discrimination in the Gig Economy: How do we tackle gender and social discrimination which has seeped into the gig economy (Refusing deliveries because the delivery person was a Muslim is an examples of this).

Dr Gayatri Nair will be in conversation with Adv Mr Sanjoy Ghose and Dr Jamie Woodcock for this webinar.

About the Speakers

• Dr Nair is an Assistant Professor at IIIT, Delhi. She received her M.Phil (2012) and PhD (2016) in Sociology from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her research interests lie in urban informal labour and livelihood patterns with an emphasis on the question of technology, caste and gender.

• Mr Ghose is one of India's foremost lawyers on employment and labour law and has been in practice for over 23 years.

• Dr Woodcock is a senior lecturer at the Open University and a researcher based in London. He is the author of The Gig Economy (Polity, 2019), Marx at the Arcade (Haymarket, 2019), and Working The Phones (Pluto, 2017). His research is inspired by the workers' inquiry. His research focuses on labour, work, the gig economy, platforms, resistance, organising, and videogames. He is on the editorial board of Notes from Below and Historical Materialism. He completed his PhD in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London and has held positions at Goldsmiths, University of Leeds, University of Manchester, Queen Mary, NYU London, Cass Business School, the LSE, and the University of Oxford.

Structure and Time

• 15th August: Three written blog posts on the three topics, authored by graduates of India's foremost lawschools, will be released as part of our blog symposium on www.lawschoolpolicyreview.com.
• 16th August: The webinar will be held from 14:30-16:30 PM. The speakers will be speaking for 1 hour, followed by an hour of QnA session.