Paternal Rights in the Gig Economy: Social Security Gaps Under India's New Labour Codes

Abstract

Abstract In recent times, India has had a very rapid increase in the platform economy. It has created both positive and negative impacts on society. The positive impact is that it has created flexible earning, and simultaneously the negative impact is that it has created a new kind of social legal insecurity. When looking into The Code on Social Security, 2020, we get a proper framework which has finally recognised the gig workers and the platform workers for the first time in Indian history. This framework is structurally asymmetric when it comes to gender. When we look into the ground level demographic, it reveals that over 85% of workers for the platform and gig are the delivery partners, and the majority of them are young male workers who operate primarily, and we see that these young male workers are a range of ages between 18 and 30. This is similar to the time when they have to take care of their family. But while we see the new labour court, we come to the conclusion that there are some sections that are gender-biased. For example, for women, there is maternity leave, and for men, there is no such kind of leave. But while a child is born, some responsibilities are with the mother, but other responsibilities rely on the father only, so when a child needs both mother and father, then why should the labour court only introduce the rights of the leaves for women? While analysing sections 2, sub-clause 35, section 2, clause 61, and 114 of The Code on Social Security, 2020, along with the International Labour Organisation convention. This paper expresses the structural gap in India’s labour reform and proposes actionable policies or laws which would include social security and parental leave credits for family welfare in favour of humans, not on the basis on