A Regulatory Time Bomb: Can Singapore’s Model Rescue Indonesia’s Gig Economy?
Abstract
Platform workers who work through digital applications such as online transportation and delivery services are growing in Indonesia, but their legal status is still unclear. The incompatibility between the platform's work model and conventional labor regulations results in platform workers not receiving legal protection, social security, or recognition of formal employment relationships. This article examines these problems using normative legal research methods and comparative approaches by comparing the Indonesian legal system with Singapore's policies through the Platform Workers Act 2024. The legal materials include laws and regulations, jurisprudence, and related literature. The study results show that Indonesia still relies on inadequate partial regulation to address the protection needs of platform workers. At the same time, Singapore has taken a progressive step by recognizing the status of platform workers as a separate legal entity with fundamental rights, such as social security, the right to form associations, protection against work injuries, and income transparency. The novel finding of this study lies in identifying the hybrid employment model as a feasible and legally sound framework to bridge the gap between full-time employment and independent contracting in Indonesia. This model not only aligns with Singapore’s adaptive regulatory approach but also offers a policy blueprint for equitable protection without undermining digital innovation. The broader implication is clear: without a comprehensive legal reform that institutionalizes hybrid employment, Indonesia risks entrenching a two-tier labor system that perpetuates inequality within its rapidly expanding digital economy.
References
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Bateyo, Asuman. “The Gig Economy: Implications for Workforce Management.” Research Invention Journal of Current Issues in Arts and Management 4, no. 1 (January 25, 2025): 39–42. https://doi.org/10.59298/RIJCIAM/2025/413942.
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———. “Digital Platforms of Work and the Crafting of Career Path: The Crowdworkers’ Perspective.” Information Systems Frontiers 24, no. 2 (April 24, 2022): 441–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-020-10036-1.
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Li, Xue, Alexander Jun Hao Tan, Xueqin Wang, and Kum Fai Yuen. “Investigating Gig Workers’ Commitment to Crowdsourced Logistics Platforms: Fair Employment and Social Exchange Perspectives.” Technology in Society 74 (August 2023): 102311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102311.
Makhtar, Maheran, Zuhairah Ghadas, and Mahbubul Haque. “Exploring Legal Protections for Platform Workers in Malaysia: A Human Rights-Based Perspective.” Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law) 11, no. 2 (August 2024): 185–207. https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v11n2.a2.
Ministry of Manpower. “Labour Force in Singapore 2015,” 2016, 243.
———. “Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2024.” Ministry of Manpower, Singapore, no. November (2024).
Mitev, Nathalie, Jeremy Aroles, Kathleen A. Stephenson, and Julien Malaurent. “Introduction: New Ways of Working, Organizations and Organizing in the Digital Age,” 1–19, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61687-8_1.
Ni Kadek Ayu Sri Undari, and Haruka Sugiyama. “Gig Economy Worker’s Legal Status: Employee or Independent Contractor?” Focus Journal Law Review 4, no. 1 (May 26, 2024). https://doi.org/10.62795/fjl.v4i1.259.
Nithiananthan, Sugidha, and Adilah Rafey. “The Platform Workers Act Is a Landmark Piece of Legislation — Here’s How It Can Go Further in Protecting Workers.” Aware for Equality, 2024. https://www.aware.org.sg/2024/09/platform-workers-act/.
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Rani, Uma, and Rishabh Kumar Dhir. “Platform Work and the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The Indian Journal of Labour Economics 63, no. S1 (October 6, 2020): 163–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-020-00273-y.
Rhogust, Muhammad, and Institut Rahmaniyah Sekayu. “Labor Law Reform in the Gig Economy Era: Analysis of the Impact of Regulatory Changes on Freelancers in Indonesia.” Social Science 1, no. 1 (2023): 48–60.
Rosenblat, Alex, and Luke Stark. “Algorithmic Labor and Information Asymmetries: A Case Study of Uber’s Drivers.” International Journal of Communication 10 (2016): 3758–84. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2686227.
Shevchuk, Andrey, Denis Strebkov, and Dieter Bögenhold. “Work Values and Hybrid Careers in the Gig Economy: The Evidence from an Online Labor Market.” Economic and Industrial Democracy 45, no. 1 (February 19, 2024): 138–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X221140153.
Sieker, Felix. “Platform Work and Access to Social Protection across Major European Countries.” Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy 38, no. 3 (November 10, 2022): 193–207. https://doi.org/10.1017/ics.2022.13.
Singaporean Ministry of Manpower. “New Platform Workers Bill to Strengthen Protections for Platform Workers,” 2024. https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2024/0909-new-platform-workers-bill-to-strengthen-protections-for-platform-workers.
Singh, Ramya, Archana Sharma, and Nimit Gupta. “Nursing on the Edge: An Empirical Exploration of Gig Workers in Healthcare and the Unseen Impacts on the Nursing Profession.” The Scientific Temper 15, no. 01 (March 15, 2024): 1924–33. https://doi.org/10.58414/SCIENTIFICTEMPER.2024.15.1.46.
Thelen, Kathleen. “Regulating Uber: The Politics of the Platform Economy in Europe and the United States.” Perspectives on Politics 16, no. 4 (December 23, 2018): 938–53. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592718001081.
Trenerry, Brigid, Samuel Chng, Yang Wang, Sun Sun Lim, and Peng Ho Oh. “Mobilising Workers via Digital Means: Reinventing Trade Unions for the Digital Age.” Singapore Labour Journal 01, no. 01 (January 28, 2022): 6–19. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2811031523000025.
Ulbrich, Hannah, Marco Wedel, and Hans-Liudger Dienel. Internal Crowdsourcing in Companies Theoretical Foundations and Practical, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52881-2.
Urzì Brancati, Maria Cesira, Annarosa Pesole, and Enrique Fernández-Macías. New Evidence on Platform Workers in Europe. JRC Science For Policy Report, Results from the Second COLLEEM Survey, EUR 29958 EN, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2760/459278.
Vallas, Steven, and Juliet B. Schor. “What Do Platforms Do? Understanding the Gig Economy.” Annual Review of Sociology 46, no. June (2020): 273–94. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-121919-054857.
Waring, Peter, Azad Bali, and Chris Vas. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Labour Market Regulation in Singapore.” The Economic and Labour Relations Review 31, no. 3 (September 24, 2020): 347–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304620941272.
Wood, Alex J, Mark Graham, Vili Lehdonvirta, and Isis Hjorth. “Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy.” Work, Employment and Society 33, no. 1 (February 8, 2019): 56–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018785616.
Xu, Bin, Yasai Jin, and Ni Zhang. “The Singapore Platform Workers Act and Its Implications.” Journal of Economics and Law 2, no. 1 (February 2025): 114–19. https://doi.org/10.62517/jel.202514118.
Yunita, Fenny Tria. “Embracing the Gig Economy.” Indonesian Journal of Law and Society 4, no. 2 (October 8, 2023). https://doi.org/10.19184/ijls.v4i2.43628.
Zelma, Emil. “The Gig Economy from the Freelancer’s Perspective: The Risk of Precarianization.” International Journal of Contemporary Management 60, no. 1 (March 1, 2024): 211–26. https://doi.org/10.2478/ijcm-2024-0013.
Albab, S. H. S. Ulil, Azhar Muhammad Hasan, and Kevin Bhaskara Sibarani. “Legal Protection of Gig Workers in Indonesia: Reviewing Legal Jus-Tice, Certainity, and Expediency.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Law and Legal Issues 1, no. 1 (2023): 1–24.
Aminuddin, Nur Afifah, and Erna Dyah Kusumawati. “The Legal Protection of the Digital Platform Workers in Indonesia: Lesson Learnd From Germany and the United Kingdom.” Indonesian Journal of Law and Society 4, no. 2 (October 5, 2023): 98. https://doi.org/10.19184/ijls.v4i2.41915.
Andri Herman Setiawan, Firman Nurdiyansyah Sunandar, Ahmad Juaeni, and Johannes Triestanto. “Analysis of Digital Employment Contracts on Gig Economy Platforms: Between Flexibility and Exploitation.” International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 2, no. 3 (August 1, 2025): 54–64. https://doi.org/10.62951/ijlcj.v2i3.723.
Bateyo, Asuman. “The Gig Economy: Implications for Workforce Management.” Research Invention Journal of Current Issues in Arts and Management 4, no. 1 (January 25, 2025): 39–42. https://doi.org/10.59298/RIJCIAM/2025/413942.
Blázquez, Maite, Ainhoa Herrarte, and Ana I. Moro-Egido. “Well-Being Effects of the Digital Platform Economy: The Case of Temporary and Self-Employment.” Technological and Economic Development of Economy 30, no. 6 (September 17, 2024): 1618–51. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2024.21858.
Bonoli, Giuliano, Juliana Chueri, and Carlo Dimitri. “Platform Work as a Consequence of Welfare Regime Performance.” Competition & Change 0, no. 0 (2025): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/10245294251316707.
Do, Kimberly, Maya De Los Santos, Michael Muller, and Saiph Savage. “Designing Gig Worker Sousveillance Tools.” In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–19. New York, NY, USA: ACM, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642614.
Idowu, Ayomikun, and Amany Elbanna. “Bright ICT and Unbounded Employment: Typology of Crowdworkers and Their Lived and Envisaged Career Trajectory in Nigeria,” 470–86. Springer, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20671-0_32.
———. “Digital Platforms of Work and the Crafting of Career Path: The Crowdworkers’ Perspective.” Information Systems Frontiers 24, no. 2 (April 24, 2022): 441–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-020-10036-1.
Jean-bosco, Djeumenou, Alfred Amihere Tit, and Joseph Nkoumou. “Consumer Protection Laws in E-Commerce : Legal Gaps and Enforcement Challenges.” Green Social: International Journal of Law and Civil Affairs 1, no. 2 (2024): 3063–0576. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.70062/greensocial.v1i2.55.
Joshi, Amit, Saharsh Jain, and Puneet Kumar Gupta. “Challenges and Impact of the Gig Economy.” Sustainable Economies 2, no. 2 (April 3, 2024): 96. https://doi.org/10.62617/se.v2i2.96.
Khawarizmi, Kalam. “Buruh Digital Dan Negosiasi Kuasa: Siasat Komunitas Freelancer Indonesia Menghadapi Kerentanan Kerja Di Tengah Kekuasan Asimetri Perusahaan Platform.” Jurnal PolGov 5, no. 1 (August 28, 2023): 151–96. https://doi.org/10.22146/polgov.v5i1.6279.
Klaus, Dominik, Barbara Haas, and Maddalena Lamura. “Dependency and Social Recognition of Online Platform Workers: Evidence From a Mixed‐Methods Study.” Social Inclusion 11, no. 4 (November 2, 2023). https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v11i4.7186.
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. “Improving the Welfare of Platform Workers in Singapore Introduction,” 2024,” 2024. https://www.ptc.gov.sg/newsroom/news-releases/newsroom-view/new-regulatory-framework-for-.
Legislative Council Secretariat. “Protection of Digital Platform Workers in Singapore and Spain” 730, no. 2022 (2023).
Li, Xue, Alexander Jun Hao Tan, Xueqin Wang, and Kum Fai Yuen. “Investigating Gig Workers’ Commitment to Crowdsourced Logistics Platforms: Fair Employment and Social Exchange Perspectives.” Technology in Society 74 (August 2023): 102311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102311.
Makhtar, Maheran, Zuhairah Ghadas, and Mahbubul Haque. “Exploring Legal Protections for Platform Workers in Malaysia: A Human Rights-Based Perspective.” Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law) 11, no. 2 (August 2024): 185–207. https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v11n2.a2.
Ministry of Manpower. “Labour Force in Singapore 2015,” 2016, 243.
———. “Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2024.” Ministry of Manpower, Singapore, no. November (2024).
Mitev, Nathalie, Jeremy Aroles, Kathleen A. Stephenson, and Julien Malaurent. “Introduction: New Ways of Working, Organizations and Organizing in the Digital Age,” 1–19, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61687-8_1.
Ni Kadek Ayu Sri Undari, and Haruka Sugiyama. “Gig Economy Worker’s Legal Status: Employee or Independent Contractor?” Focus Journal Law Review 4, no. 1 (May 26, 2024). https://doi.org/10.62795/fjl.v4i1.259.
Nithiananthan, Sugidha, and Adilah Rafey. “The Platform Workers Act Is a Landmark Piece of Legislation — Here’s How It Can Go Further in Protecting Workers.” Aware for Equality, 2024. https://www.aware.org.sg/2024/09/platform-workers-act/.
Qiu, Jack Linchuan, ShinJoung Yeo, and Richard Maxwell. The Handbook of Digital Labor. Edited by Jack Linchuan Qiu, ShinJoung Yeo, and Richard Maxwell. Wiley, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119981831.
Rani, Uma, and Rishabh Kumar Dhir. “Platform Work and the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The Indian Journal of Labour Economics 63, no. S1 (October 6, 2020): 163–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-020-00273-y.
Rhogust, Muhammad, and Institut Rahmaniyah Sekayu. “Labor Law Reform in the Gig Economy Era: Analysis of the Impact of Regulatory Changes on Freelancers in Indonesia.” Social Science 1, no. 1 (2023): 48–60.
Rosenblat, Alex, and Luke Stark. “Algorithmic Labor and Information Asymmetries: A Case Study of Uber’s Drivers.” International Journal of Communication 10 (2016): 3758–84. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2686227.
Shevchuk, Andrey, Denis Strebkov, and Dieter Bögenhold. “Work Values and Hybrid Careers in the Gig Economy: The Evidence from an Online Labor Market.” Economic and Industrial Democracy 45, no. 1 (February 19, 2024): 138–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X221140153.
Sieker, Felix. “Platform Work and Access to Social Protection across Major European Countries.” Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy 38, no. 3 (November 10, 2022): 193–207. https://doi.org/10.1017/ics.2022.13.
Singaporean Ministry of Manpower. “New Platform Workers Bill to Strengthen Protections for Platform Workers,” 2024. https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2024/0909-new-platform-workers-bill-to-strengthen-protections-for-platform-workers.
Singh, Ramya, Archana Sharma, and Nimit Gupta. “Nursing on the Edge: An Empirical Exploration of Gig Workers in Healthcare and the Unseen Impacts on the Nursing Profession.” The Scientific Temper 15, no. 01 (March 15, 2024): 1924–33. https://doi.org/10.58414/SCIENTIFICTEMPER.2024.15.1.46.
Thelen, Kathleen. “Regulating Uber: The Politics of the Platform Economy in Europe and the United States.” Perspectives on Politics 16, no. 4 (December 23, 2018): 938–53. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592718001081.
Trenerry, Brigid, Samuel Chng, Yang Wang, Sun Sun Lim, and Peng Ho Oh. “Mobilising Workers via Digital Means: Reinventing Trade Unions for the Digital Age.” Singapore Labour Journal 01, no. 01 (January 28, 2022): 6–19. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2811031523000025.
Ulbrich, Hannah, Marco Wedel, and Hans-Liudger Dienel. Internal Crowdsourcing in Companies Theoretical Foundations and Practical, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52881-2.
Urzì Brancati, Maria Cesira, Annarosa Pesole, and Enrique Fernández-Macías. New Evidence on Platform Workers in Europe. JRC Science For Policy Report, Results from the Second COLLEEM Survey, EUR 29958 EN, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2760/459278.
Vallas, Steven, and Juliet B. Schor. “What Do Platforms Do? Understanding the Gig Economy.” Annual Review of Sociology 46, no. June (2020): 273–94. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-121919-054857.
Waring, Peter, Azad Bali, and Chris Vas. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Labour Market Regulation in Singapore.” The Economic and Labour Relations Review 31, no. 3 (September 24, 2020): 347–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304620941272.
Wood, Alex J, Mark Graham, Vili Lehdonvirta, and Isis Hjorth. “Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy.” Work, Employment and Society 33, no. 1 (February 8, 2019): 56–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018785616.
Xu, Bin, Yasai Jin, and Ni Zhang. “The Singapore Platform Workers Act and Its Implications.” Journal of Economics and Law 2, no. 1 (February 2025): 114–19. https://doi.org/10.62517/jel.202514118.
Yunita, Fenny Tria. “Embracing the Gig Economy.” Indonesian Journal of Law and Society 4, no. 2 (October 8, 2023). https://doi.org/10.19184/ijls.v4i2.43628.
Zelma, Emil. “The Gig Economy from the Freelancer’s Perspective: The Risk of Precarianization.” International Journal of Contemporary Management 60, no. 1 (March 1, 2024): 211–26. https://doi.org/10.2478/ijcm-2024-0013.
Published
2025-10-29
How to Cite
WIDIASTIANI, Nindry Sulistya.
A Regulatory Time Bomb: Can Singapore’s Model Rescue Indonesia’s Gig Economy?.
Jurnal Dinamika Hukum, [S.l.], v. 25, n. 3, p. 279-294, oct. 2025.
ISSN 2407-6562.
Available at: <https://jos.unsoed.ac.id/index.php/jdh/article/view/15868>. Date accessed: 03 nov. 2025.
doi: https://doi.org/10.20884/1.jdh.2025.25.3.15868.
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