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COVID-19 Policies Leave Gig Workers Out in the Cold

Posted on 09.04.2020

How are platforms responding to the COVID-19 crisis? Who do they protect and how much? 

As new coronavirus cases are rapidly increasing across the world, gig workers are on the front lines of this crisis. They are delivering food and household essentials to those self-isolating or practicing social distancing and are providing much needed care services to those in need. As such, they are among the “key workers” the UK government announced: those “who are maintaining essential public services during the Covid-19 response”.  

To see how platforms have been responding to the crisis, the Fairwork team has been systematically collecting any policies that they have put in place to mitigate the risks that gig workers face. Our results show that from India to the UK, from the US to South Africa, their responses are insufficient. In most cases, they pay lip service to protection without investing meaningfully in action that would actually protect their workforce. 

We have published the results of our ongoing research at various outlets. You can find them here: