Fairwork Bangladesh Ratings 2021: Labour Standards in the Gig Economy

This first Fairwork report for Bangladesh examines gig workers’ rights in what is a relatively young market and capital-intensive sector. Overall, the scores awarded to plaforms in Bangladesh in the first year were very low, reflecting an absence of labour protections in the wider informal economy as well as in the platform economy, and substantial room for improvement in subsequent scoring rounds.

The platform economy model continues to attract workers in Bangladesh as they feel the sector can offer a regular cash flow and flexible working hours. However, the annual Fairwork Bangladesh ratings show that the working conditions of platform workers are far from desirable. They continue to face unfair labour practices and lack protections afforded to employees.

We hope that this report will help set the agenda of fairer working conditions for the gig workers of Bangladesh, and that it will inspire platforms to improve their positions in the next round of scoring taking place in 2022.

A more accessible version of the report is also available.