Disguised Employment Relationship Towards Platform-Based Drivers: Indonesian and United Kingdom Law Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25041/fiatjustisia.v20no1.4833Abstract
Digital technology has created non-conventional employment through platform applications, exemplified by platform-based drivers in Indonesia. Their relationship with App Provider Companies is governed by partnership agreements, resulting in unclear legal status and limited labour protection. This study examines the legal vacuum that leaves drivers without social security and workers’ rights, despite fulfilling employment elements; work, wages, and control. Using a juridical normative approach, it finds that partnership agreements may disguise employment to evade employer obligations. The UK Uber case supports recognising drivers as workers entitled to protection. Special regulations are needed to formalise their status and safeguard rights and welfare in the digital economy.
Keywords:
Platform-based drivers, employment relationship, disguised employment, partnership agreement, labour lawDownloads
References
Dalimunthe, Nikmah, dan Suhardina Suhardina. “Dinamika Ketenagakerjaan Non Formal: Analisis Sistem Pengupahan Dan Perbandingannya Dengan Ketenagakerjaan Formal Dalam Perspektif Hukum.” Innovative: Journal Of Social Science Research 4, No. 3 (2024): 7049-59. https://doi.org/10.31004/innovative.v4i3.11074.
Dananjaya, I Komang, Ni Kadek Ayu Sri Undari, dan I Made Halmadiningrat. “Reformulasi Hubungan Kerja bagi Driver Online: Analisis Kekosongan Hukum untuk Mengkonstruksi Pekerjaan yang Layak.” Jurnal Yustika: Media Hukum Dan Keadilan 26, No. 1 (2023): 58-72. https://doi.org/10.24123/yustika.v26i01.6140.
Databoks.katadata.co.id, “Aplikasi Transportasi Online Terbanyak Diunduh di RI 2023, Gojek Juaranya”, https://databoks.katadata.co.id/teknologi-telekomunikasi/statistik/4e49e3af7a225fe/aplikasi-transportasi-online-terbanyak-diunduh-di-ri-2023-gojek-juaranya accessed on 19 September 2025.
Databoks.katadata.co.id., “Jumlah Ojol Mitra Gojek Bertambah 2021-2023”, https://databoks.katadata.co.id/transportasi-logistik/statistik/67186b7a8dee3/jumlah-ojol-mitra-gojek-bertambah-2021-2023#:~:text=Menurut%20laporan%20tahunan%20PT%20GoTo,mitra%20pengemudi%20pada%20akhir%202023, accessed on 19 September 2025.
Government Regulation Number 35 of 2021 on fixed-term employment contracts (PKWT), outsourcing, working hours, Rest Periods and Termination of Employment.
Habibi, Muhtar, dan Benny Hari Juliawan. “Creating Surplus Labour: Neo-Liberal Transformations and the Development of Relative Surplus Population in Indonesia.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 48, No. 4 (2018): 649–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2018.1429007.
Hakim, Abdul. Dasar-Dasar Hukum Ketenagakerjaan Indonesia. Jakarta: Raja Grafindo Persada, 2014.
International Labour Organization, “Disguised Employment/ Dependent-Self Employment”, https://www.ilo.org/resource/other/disguised-employment-dependent-self-employment , accessed on 30 October 2025.
Khairani. Pengantar Hukum Perburuhan dan Ketenagakerjaan. Depok: Raja Grafindo, 2021.
Law Number 13 of 2003 on Manpower in conjunction with Law No. 6 of 2023 on Job Creation.
Law Number 20 of 2008 on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Law Number 39 of 1999 on Human Rights.
Marx, Karl. Capital. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976.
Mas, Pranade, Agusmidah, dan Suria Ningsih. “Studi Komparasi Hubungan Kerja Non-Standar Dependent Self Employment dalam Hukum Ketenagakerjaan di Indonesia dan Hukum Inggris Pada Era Gig Economy.” Mahadi: Indonesia Journal of Law 1, No. 2 (2022): 181–199. https://doi.org/10.32734/mah.v1i2.9024.
Pusat Bahasa Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia. Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan dan Balai Pustaka, 1990.
Santoso, Aris Prio Agus. Pengantar Hukum Ketenagakerjaan. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Barupress, 2021.
Soepomo, Iman. Hukum Perburuhan Bidang Hubungan Kerja. Jakarta: Djambatan, 1983.
The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.
United Kingdom Court of Appeal No. Kasus A2/2017/3467 between Mr. Y Aslam, Mr. J. Farrar and Others v. Uber B.V., Uber London Ltd., Uber Britannia Ltd.
United Kingdom Employment Appeal Tribunal, 10 November 2017 between Mr. Y Aslam, Mr. J. Farrar and Others v. Uber B.V., Uber London Ltd., Uber Britannia Ltd.
United Kingdom Employment Tribunal, Case Nos: 2202550/2015 between Mr. Y Aslam, Mr. J. Farrar and Others v. Uber B.V., Uber London Ltd., Uber Britannia Ltd.
United Kingdom Supreme Court between Mr. Y Aslam, Mr. J. Farrar and Others v. Uber B.V., Uber London Ltd., Uber Britannia Ltd, 19 Februari 2021.
Wardhana, Adi Pratomo Kusuma, dan Rasji. “The Legal Status of Gig Economy Workers in Indonesia’s Digital Platform Industry (2022-2025).” Indonesian Journal of Law and Economics Review 21, No. 1 (2025). https://doi.org/10.21070/ijler.v21i1.1402.
Yasih, Diatyaka Widya Permata. Precarious Workers in the Gig Economy: Neoliberalism and Its Discontents in Indonesia. Singapore: Springer Nature, 2024.
Yasih, Diatyka Widya Permata. “Precarious Workers in the Gig Economy: Neoliberalism and Its Discontents in Indonesia”, Contestations in Contemporary Southeast Asia (Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2024), https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-0278-0.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 the Auhtor(s) Published by Development Centre Research of Law and Scientific Publication on behalf of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Lampung.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.






