VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND LAW FACULTY OF ECONOMIC LAW GRADUATION THESIS REGULATING WORKERS IN THE GIG ECONOMY: LESSONS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM AND RECOMMENDATION FOR VIETNAM Supervisor: LLM. Nguyen Cong Dinh Student: Duong Minh Truc Student ID: K195022072 HCMC, 04/2023 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND LAW FACULTY OF ECONOMIC LAW GRADUATION THESIS REGULATING WORKERS IN THE GIG ECONOMY: LESSONS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM AND RECOMMENDATION FOR VIETNAM Supervisor: LLM. Nguyen Cong Dinh Student: Duong Minh Truc Student ID: K195022072 HCMC, 04/2023 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the work contained in this graduation thesis is my original work. The topic was chosen following a rigorous process of document review, referencing, and practical experience absorption.
All passages quoted from publications or paraphrased from these sources are properly cited in accordance with the thesis guidelines. Ho Chi Minh City, April 2023 Duong Minh Truc ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to give special thanks to my dear supervisor, Nguyen Cong Dinh. Due to certain research constraints, some facets may not have been explored in their entirety. However, I finally try my best overcoming these limitations thanks to your invaluable guidance, suggestions, and feedback, which has enabled me compile the thesis in a fairly comprehensive manner.
Lastly, I would like to express my dedication to other lecturers at the Faculty of Economic Law, who have always been unwaveringly supportive throughout my four years of education. TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. Research scope and objectives. Purpose of the study.
Structure of the thesis. INTRODUCTION TO GIG WORKERS. Strengths and weaknesses of gig workers. Impact of gig economy on social.
FOREIGN LAWS ON GIG WORKERS. Regulations on status of gig workers in the United States. California Assembly Bill 5. Regulations on status of gig workers in the United Kingdom.
LEGAL REGULATIONS REGARDING GIG WORKERS IN VIETNAM AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Current Vietnamese regulations on gig workers. Recommendations for legal improvement for Vietnam. Problem statement The number of self-employed is growing at a remarkable pace in recent years.
Companies such as Handy, Doordash, Deliveroo, Uber, Grab or Gojek has created digital platforms that facilitate a wide range of human activities, ushering in a wave of profound changes in the way we work, socialize, create value, and compete for profit. According to the survey conducted by Anphabe, more and more people in Vietnam opt for freelance works. It found that 14% work as full-time freelancers, 26% freelance part-time and 13% have both full- and part-time jobs.1 While in other developed countries, there are approximately 4.4 million people in England and Wales involved in some forms of independent work, such as delivering food, driving taxi, designing art, writing contents or offering other services.2 In America, this figure is 59 million freelancers, who are said to have contributed $1.21 trillion to the country's GDP in 2020.3 This is not a new phenomenon as freelancing has been a common way of working to make extra cash for years. What matters is the rapid increase of individuals who turn to fulltime freelance jobs to earn a living that shifts this fact from the margins to the mainstream in just a few years.
The growth in fact takes place in both demand and supply side. On the supply side, more people gradually value flexibility and control above all else.4 On the demand side, organizations are finding it more profitable to contract with independent workers. Companies reported in a survey by Ernst & Young Global in 2018 that their main reasons for 1 Quynh Nguyen (2022), “Freelancing Becomes Increasingly Popular Among Professionals”, https://e.net/news/trend/freelancing-becomes-increasingly-popular-among-professionals- 4544186.html, accessed on 15/02/2023 2 Trade Union Congress (2021), “Gig Economy Workforce in England and Wales Has Almost Tripled in the Last Five Years – New TUC Research”, https://www.uk/news/gig-economy-workforce-england-and- wales-has-almost-tripled-last-five-years-new-tuc-research, accessed on 15/02/2023 3 Chris Kolmar (2023), “23+ Essential Gig Economy Statistics [2023]: Definitions, Facts, and Trends on the Gig Work”, Zippia, https://www.com/advice/gig-economy-statistics/, accessed on 15/02/2023 4 Teresa Shuk-Ching Poon (2018), “Independent Workers: Growth Trends, Categories, and Employee Relations Implications in the Emerging Gig Economy”, Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, No. 31(1), Springer Professional, pp.
63–69 2 using freelancers were to control total labor costs, complete projects requiring special competencies, and respond to seasonal workforce requirements.5 Mass technologically mediated connectivity is key to the transformation of work preferences.6 Technology has made matching procedures of workers and clients easier than ever, with platforms provided by third party connecting clients with contingent labor force. This has given rise to a new economic model: gig economy. An individual engaged in any form of independent work in the gig economy is then called a gig worker. As the number of gig workers continues to grow, concerns about protecting their rights have become increasingly important.
As this kind of work relationship no longer fits into the existing legal status of employee, it is necessary for Vietnam to modify the legal framework that regulates the activities and relationships between gig workers and platform providers to ensure that gig workers are treated fairly. While some countries such as the United Kingdom recognize gig workers as employees, the United States is still disunited on classifying them as independent contractors or employees. Vietnam has not yet provided any specific recognition or regulation of gig workers, which means that they do not receive the same protections and benefits as traditional employees. With this in mind, the author has decided to do research on “Regulating Workers in the Gig Economy: Lessons from the United States and United Kingdom and Recommendation for Vietnam" to explore the legal loopholes that adversely impact gig workers in Vietnam.
By drawing on experiences of the United States and the United Kingdom, the author aims to identify best practices and key considerations for establishing a legal framework that can extend many, though not all, of the legal benefits and protections found in employment relationships to gig workers without breaking the nature of the gig economy model. 5 Ernst & Young Global Ltd. (2018), “The Gig Economy: A Chance to Control Your Costs or Accelerate Your Growth?”, https://www.com/en_gl/growth/the-gig-economy--a-chance-to-control-your-costs-or- accelerate-yo, accessed on 15/02/2023 6 Jamie Woodcock & Mark Graham (2020), The Gig Economy: A Critical Introduction, p. Literature review Gig workers have garnered a great amount of attention from scholars across diverse academic disciplines in recent years, and even attained legal recognition in certain countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
However, despite the prevalence of gig works in Vietnam, this population has only been concerned from the perspective of the media and discussion in the conference7. At present, there is almost no public literature on gig workers authored by Vietnamese scholars. Thus, the author will reference studies and articles authored by foreign scholars, namely: (1) Alexander Kondo & Abraham Singer (2020), “Labor without Employment: Toward a New Legal Framework for the Gig Economy”, ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law. The article discusses the historical context and development of labor law in the United States.
It then examines how the gig economy challenges traditional assumptions of labor law by relying on technology to reduce transaction costs and decouple labor from the employee-employer relationship. Finally, the authors propose a new category of workers called “labor without employment” for workers who earn a living through their labor but are not directed by another party, and argue that this category requires a new way of thinking about labor law and ethical frameworks for assessing moral obligations in the economy. van Geel (2019), Regulating work in the gig-economy: How to deal with platforms such as Uber and Deliveroo? A study on how specific offline gig-work could be regulated in the Netherlands with regard to working conditions, Master Thesis. The research followed a two-sided approach, focusing on the legal classification of a specific offline gig worker from a Dutch and European labor law perspective, and examining the protection that gig workers can derive from a limited selection of European directives concerning working conditions.
The new way of working generates revenues beyond traditional linear employment 7 Bui Quoc Anh, Pham Ngoc Son, Le Xuan Tung, Nguyen Hai Ninh, “Labor Relation in the Gig Economy”, Paper Discussion in Seminar of Regional Institute for Sustainable Development Research 4 relationships, creating legal uncertainty regarding the legal status or position of gig workers. Working conditions are of primary importance as they directly affect the employee, and specific offline gig workers are currently not entitled to any protection. (3) Christopher Puusepp (2019), Challenges with gig workers: A mediator perspective, Master Thesis. The study aims to research successful employers who offer gig workers opportunities to find gigs.
By discovering these challenges, the study hopes to increase knowledge about gig workers and how to manage them, and contribute to the awareness of potential challenges for employers interested in becoming mediators for gig workers. (4) Anna Joelsson (2017), Workers in the Gig Economy: Employees or Self- employed? A Comparative Study on the Concept of Employment in the Gig Economy focusing on Sweden and the United Kingdom, Master Thesis. The thesis provides an overview of crowdsourcing, where a job traditionally done by an employee is outsourced to a large group of people. The thesis investigates the possibility of considering gig workers as employees and concludes that while there are arguments for and against this initiative; focus should be on identifying the employer's function, spreading the risk between the parties and by other means adapting the market in accordance with new developments.
(5) Antonio Aloisi (2016), “Commoditized Workers: Case Study Research on Labor Law Issues Arising from a Set of „On-Demand/Gig Economy‟ Platforms”, Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal. The paper presents a case study analysis of several gig economy platforms, including Amazon Mechanical Turk, TaskRabbit, Handy, Wonolo, Uber, and Lyft. The author examines the terms of service of these platforms and highlights the downsides of working for them. It focuses on issues related to payment systems, worker protection laws, dispute resolution mechanisms, and legal status.
Based on his analysis, the author provides recommendations to address these concerns. 5 Above is a number of foreign academic research exploring issues related to gig workers, such as the basis to classify them as employees, their entitlement to rights and their benefits. However, these papers primarily examine the legal framework of their own countries, which limits their direct applicability to Vietnam. Therefore, to apply these insights to Vietnam, it is imperative to contextualize and refine them in light of the current situation and regulatory environment in Vietnam.
Research scope and objectives The thesis focuses on legal aspects of Vietnamese gig workers, particularly technology drivers. It aims to analyze and clarify the legal situation surrounding gig workers in the country, with reference to foreign laws and judgments. The thesis excludes economic issues and instead emphasizes the modification to legal framework that applies to gig workers. The research scope is limited to currently effective laws and regulations in Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Given the popularity of the gig economy and gig workers, the author consulted a wide range of sources from different perspectives to provide a comprehensive analysis of the legal framework governing gig workers. Methodology First is statutory interpretation: This method is applied throughout all chapters. The author relies on the method to study numerous approaches to come up with the concept of characteristics of the gig economy and gig workers. It is also used to study the current Vietnamese laws as well as other countries in the world such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
These theoretical and solid foundations contribute to making the research more persuasive. Second is comparative method: This method is used in Chapter 1 and 2 to compare regulations and different perspectives from the United States and the United Kingdom. Through comparison, it helps generate an objective and multi- dimensional view to make recommendations compatible with the current Vietnamese economic situation.