JobWatch receives a number of calls each year from gig economy workers who are facing issues with the gig economy platform on which they work. This can range from issues with continued access to the platform, underpayment of entitlements, issues with workplace safety, and more.
In this Gig Workers Resource Hub, we aim to provide:
We note that many of the issues faced by these workers are complicated by the fact that many gig economy workers are not considered ‘employees’ under employment law and are classified as independent contractors who run their own business through a gig economy platform. This can greatly reduce the legal options available to them to resolve these issues.
There is work underway by both federal and state governments to strengthen protections for gig economy workers. The Victorian Government has established the Gig Worker Support Service.
Additionally, JobWatch is also here to support gig economy workers with their rights.
JobWatch has been supporting gig workers with their rights at work through many years of experience working with the most vulnerable workers such as international students and other migrant and visa workers who are most likely to take up gig economy and other insecure forms of work such as independent and sham contracting.
Further, in a 2020 partnership with Fit2Drive, Swinburne University and D’Accord OAS, JobWatch was awarded the International Education Association of Australia’s Best Practice Award 2021 for our International Student Driver Delivery Training Program, an educational program on work rights, road safety and legal rights and responsibilities for international students who are supplementing their income in Australia through the gig economy of food delivery driving. In 2023, JobWatch also partnered with the Gig Workers’ Hub to deliver a free and confidential pop-up drop-in legal advice clinic for gig workers. Ongoing law reform and advocacy activities through submissions to government have also contributed to JobWatch’s work in this space.
Gig workers are encouraged to contact JobWatch’s Telephone Information Service on (03) 9662 1933 (Melbourne Metro) or 1800 331 617 (Regional Vic, Qld, Tas) for further legal information and support about their rights at work.
If you are based in Victoria, you may also like to contact the Victorian Government’s Gig Worker Support Service on 1800 000 478 or info.gwss@dpc.vic.gov.au.
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