Accommodating New Modes of Work in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Ghana: Some Comparative Lessons from the United Kingdom and South Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-3062/11831Keywords:
Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), digital economy, gig workers, Labour Act 651 of 2003, statutory protection of workers, rights of workers, youth unemployment, labour regulationsAbstract
Over the past decade, Ghana has significantly improved in the digitalisation and transformation agenda. The digitalisation agenda has paved the way for creating an inclusive digital economy. Through this agenda, many Ghanaians now have access to digital platforms, particularly those in the financial and transportation sectors. The quest to digitalise the Ghanaian economy has also created an enabling platform for digital entrepreneurship. The digital economy ecosystem has presented many Ghanaians with economic and employment opportunities that did not exist in the traditional or mainstream economy. While the economic potential of the Ghanaian digital economy cannot be denied, the employment opportunities created by the digital transformation drive present some challenges for the traditional labour market. Moreover, the novel nature of the digital transformation drive poses some difficulties for the existing legal framework of labour laws in Ghana. In addition to examining how Ghana’s labour laws can accommodate gig workers, this article discusses the digital economy’s meaning and significance in Africa, particularly in Ghana. Furthermore, it discusses the new modes of work associated with the digital economy. In addressing the issue of whether the current legal framework in Ghana can accommodate gig workers, the article reflects on the nature of the relationship between gig workers and owners of digital platforms. The article accordingly deals with the issue of whether the Labour Act 651 of 2003 offers guidance in addressing the employment status of gig workers in Ghana. In dealing with whether gig workers are employees of digital platform providers, this article draws some comparative and judicial lessons from the legal position in the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa. The article concludes with a call for the statutory protection of gig workers in Ghana.
References
Adams A, Freedman J and Prassl J, ‘Rethinking Legal Taxonomies for the Gig Economy’ (2018) 34 Oxford Review of Economic Policy <https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/gry006>
Adams Z, Catherine Barnard, Simon Deakin and Sarah F Butlin, Deakin and Morris’ Labour Law (Bloomsbury Publishing 2021).
Amuso V, Giuliano P and Montibello D, ‘The Digital Economy: Opportunities and Challenges’ (2020) 11 Global Policy <https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12745>
Andoyan A, ‘Independent Contractor or an Employee: I’m Uber Confused! Why California Should Create an Exception for Uber Drivers and the “On-Demand Economy”’ (2017) 47 Golden Gate University Law Review.
Anwar MA and Graham M, ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Freedom, Flexibility, Precarity, and Vulnerability in the Gig Economy in Africa’ (2020) 25 Competition & Change <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529420914473>
Arthurs HW, ‘The Dependent Contractor: A Study of the Legal Problems of Countervailing Power’ (1965) 16(1) The University of Toronto Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.2307/825096>
Bales RA and Woo CP, ‘The Uber Million Dollar Question: Are Uber Drivers Employees or Independent Contractors?’ (2017) 68 Mercer Law Review.
Benjamin P, ‘An Accident of History: Who is (and Who Should Be) an Employee under South Africa Labour Law’ (2004) 25 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1163/221160205X00290>
Berger T, Frey CB, Levin G and Danda SR, ‘Uber Happy? Work Well and Well-being in the Gig-Economy’ (2020) 34 Economic Policy <https://doi.org/10.1093/epolic/eiz007>
Berisha-Shaquiri A and Berisha-Namani M, ‘Information Technology and the Digital Economy’ (2015) 6 Mediterranean Journal of Social Science <https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6p78>
Bogg A, ‘Common Law and Statute in the Law of Employment’ (2016) 69 Current Legal Problems <https://doi.org/10.1093/clp/cuw007>
Bogg A, ‘The Common Law Constitution at Work: R (on the Application of UNISON) v Lord Chancellor)’ (2018) 81 The Modern Law Review
<https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12343>
Bogg A and Ford M, ‘Between Statute and Contract: Who is a Worker?’ (2019) 135 Law Quarterly Review.
Bosch C, ‘Defining the Parameters of Employment: The Position of the Company Shareholder and Close Corporation Member’ (2004) 8 Law, Democracy & Development.
Brassey M, ‘The Nature of Employment’ (1990) 11 Industrial Law Journal.
Brodie D, ‘Employees, Workers and the Self-Employed’ (2005) 34 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwi017>
Bureau of Labour and Industries, ‘Advisory Opinion of the Commissioner on the Employment Status of Uber Drivers’ (14 October 2015) <http://media.oregonlive.com/commuting/other/101415%20Advisory%20Opinion%20on%20the%20Employment%20Status%20of%20Uber%20Drivers.pdf> accessed 22 May 2022.
Business and Financial Times, ‘Gig Economy Platform Create about 100000 Jobs – Report’ Business and Financial Times (Accra, 6 December 2021) <https://thebftonline.com/2021/12/06/gig-economy-platforms-create-about-100000-jobs-report/> accessed 22 May 2022.
Cabrelli D, Employment Law in Context: Texts and Materials (Oxford University Press 2020) <https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198840312.001.0001>
Calitz K, ‘Contracting Out of the Labour Relations Act: Vermooten v Department of Public Enterprises & Others (2017) 38 ILJ 607 (LAC)’ (2017) 29 South African Mercantile Law Journal.
Carlsson B, ‘The Digital Economy: What is New and What is Not?’ (2004) 15 Structural Changes and Economic Dynamics <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2004.02.001>
Carney B, ‘Uber Drivers Found to be Workers (UK)’ (2017) 2017 European Employment Law Cases.
Catherine B, EU Employment Law (Oxford University Press 2012).
Caza BB, Reid EM, Ashford SJ and Granger S, ‘Working on my Own: Measuring the Challenges of Gig Work’ (2022) 75(11) Human Relations <https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211030098>
Cherry MA and Aloisi A, ‘Dependent Contractor’ in the Gig Economy: A Comparative Approach’ (2017) 66(3) American University Law Review <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2847869>
Cilliers J, The Future of Africa (Springer International Publishing 2021) <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46590-2>
Collins H, ‘Independent Contractors and the Challenge of Vertical Disintegration of Employment Protection Laws’ (1990) 10 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies <https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/10.3.353>
Cornellissen J and Cholakova M, ‘Profits Uber Everything? The Gig Economy and the Morality of Category of Work’ (2019) 19 Strategic Organization <https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127019894506>
Cruz K, Hardy K and Sanders T, ‘False Self Employment, Autonomy and Regulating for Decent Work: Improving Working Conditions in the UK Stripping Industry’ (2017) 55 British Journal of Industrial Relations <https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12201>
Davidov G, A Purposive Approach to Labour Law (Oxford University Press 2016) <https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198759034.001.0001>
Davidov G, ‘The Status of Uber Drivers: A Purposive Approach’ (2017) 6 Spanish Labour Law and Employment Relations Journal <https://doi.org/10.20318/sllerj.2017.3921>
Davidov G, ‘Who is a Worker’ (2005) 34 Industrial Law Journal
<https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/34.1.57>
Davies ACL, ‘The Contract of Intermittent Employment’ (2007) 36 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwl043>
Deakin S, ‘Labour Law – The Pragmatist’s Approach – Comments on a Purposive Approach to Labour Law’ (2017) 16(2) Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies <https://doi.org/10.1093/jrls/jlx016
Debryne NL, ‘Uber Drivers: A Disputed Employment Relationship in Light of the Sharing Economy’ (2017) 92 Chicago-Kent Law Review.
Diedericks L, ‘The Employment Status of Magistrates in South Africa and the Concept of Judicial Independence’ (2017) 20 Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.17159/10.17159/1727-3781/2017/v20i0a1475>
Drahokoupil J and Jespen M, ‘The Digital Economy and its Implication for Labour: The Platform Economy’ (2016) 23 European Review of Labour and Research <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258917701380>
Dukes R, ‘Identifying the Purpose of Labour Law: Discussions of Guy Davidov’s Purposive Approach to Labour Law’ (2017) 16(1) Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies <https://doi.org/10.1093/jrls/jlx017>
Eck SV and Nemusimbori NE, ‘Uber Drivers: Sad to Say, But Not Employees of Uber SA’ (2018) 81 Tydskrif vir die Hedendaagse Romeins-Hollandse Reg.
Elspeth B, ‘When is a Partner/LLP Member Not a Partner/ LLP Member? The Interface with Employment and Worker Status’ (2014) 46 Industrial Law Journal.
Estlund C, ‘A Purposive Approach to Labour Law’ (2019) 40(2) Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal.
Ewan McGaughey, A Casebook on Labour Law (Hart Publishing 2019).
Fairwork ‘Towards Better Policies in the Platform Work: Ghana Ratings 2022’ (2022) <https://fair.work/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2022/11/221103_fairwork_ghana-report-2022_RZ.pdf> accessed 13 April 2023.
Fili V, ‘Platform Needs and Social Security Challenges’ in Fili V and Constantini F (eds), Legal Issues in the Digital Economy: The Impact of Disruptive Technologies in the Labour Market (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2019).
Foster C and Azmeh S, ‘Latecomer Economies and National Digital Policy: An Industrial Policy Perspective’ (2020) 56 The Journal of Development Studies <https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2019.1677886>
France A, Coffey J, Roberts S and Waite C, Youth Sociology (MacMillan Education 2020).
Freedland M, ‘The Contract of Employment and the Paradoxes of Precarity’ (2016) <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2794877>
Freedland M and Kountouris N, ‘Employment Equality and Personal Relations – A Critique of Jivraj v Hashwani’ (2012) 41 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dws008>
Graham M, Hjorth I and Lehdonvirta V, ‘Digital Labour and Development: Impact of Global Digital Labour Platforms and the Gig Economy on Worker Livelihoods’ (2017) 23 European Review of Labour and Research <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258916687250>
Huws U, Labour in the Global Digital Economy: The Cybertariat Comes of Age (Monthly Review Press 2014).
Johnston H and Land-Kazlauskas C, ‘Organizing On-Demand: Voice, and Collective Bargaining in the Gig Economy’ (2019) <https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_624286.pdf> accessed 15 April 2023.
Kaltner J, ‘Employment Status of Uber and Lyft Drivers: Unsettlingly Settled’ (2018) 29 Hastings Women’s Law Journal.
Kikiros S, ‘Dichotomy or Trichotomy? Defining Employee and Independent Contractors in an Evolving Market’ (2019) 45 University of Western Australia Law Review.
Kuhn KM and Galloway TL, ‘Expanding Perspectives on Gig Work and Workers’ (2019) 34(4) Journal of Managerial Psychology <https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-05-2019-507>
Kunsman C, ‘Ride-Sharing Company Drivers: Employees or Independent Contractors’ (2016) 26(1) South California Interdisciplinary Law Journal.
Le Roux R, ‘The Evolution of the Contract of Employment in South Africa’ (2010) 39 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwq002>
Leckey C, ‘Employment Tribunal Finds that Workers’ Transfer Under TUPE (UK)’ (2020) 5 European Employment Law Cases <https://doi.org/10.5553/EELC/187791072020005001010>
Litvinenko VS, ‘Digital Economy as a Factor in the Technological Development of the Mineral Sector’ (2020) 29 Natural Resources Research <https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-020-09716-1>
Louw AM, ‘The Common Law is…Not What it Used to Be: Revisiting Recognition of a Constitutionally Inspired Implied Duty of Fair Dealing in Common Law Contract of Employment (Part 3)’ (2018) 21 Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2018/v21i0a5662>
Lundquist B, ‘Standardization for the Digital Economy: The Issue of Interoperability and Access under Competition Law’ (2017) 62 Antitrust Bulletin <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2977242>
Maloka TC and Okpaluba C, ‘Making Your Bed as an Independent Contractor but Refusing to Lie in It: Freelance Opportunism’ (2019) 31 South African Mercantile Law Journal.
Maloka TC and Okpaluba C, ‘The Dependent Contractor: A Missing Piece in the SITA Test and the Definition of Employee in the LRA’ (2021) 42 Industrial Law Journal.
Manamela E, ‘Employee and Independent Contractor: The Distinction Stands’ (2002) 14(1 South African Mercantile Law Journal.
Mastercard, ‘Mastercard Cross-Border Services: One Connection to Reach the World’ (2019) <https://b2b.mastercard.com/media/qujbwp2a/mastercard-cross-border-services-capabilities-paper.pdf> accessed 15 April 2023.
McCrudden C, ‘Two Views of Subordination: The Personal Scope of Employment Discrimination Law in Jivraj v Hashwani’ (2012) 41 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dws006>
McGaughey E, ‘Uber, the Taylor Review, Mutuality, and the Duty not to Misrepresent Employment Status’ (2019) 48 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwy014>
Mokoena K, ‘Are Uber Drivers Employees? A Look at Emerging Business Models and Whether they can be Accommodated by South African Labour Law’ (2016) 37 Industrial Law Journal.
Mokoena K, Are Uber Drivers Employees or Independent Contractors: A Comparative Analysis’ (2018) 39 Industrial Law Journal.
Molos S, Lester GV and Virick M, ‘Uber Drivers and Employment Status in the Gig Economy: Should Corporate Social Responsibility Tip the Scales?’ (2018) 30 Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-018-9325-9>
Mpedi LG and Coleman TE, Labour Law in Ghana (LexisNexis 2022).
Mureinik E, ‘The Contract of Service: An Easy Test for Hard Cases’ (1980) 97(2) South African Law Journal.
Ng’weno A and Porteous D, ‘Let’s Be Real: The Informal Sector and the Gig-Economy are the Future, and the Present, of Work in Africa’ (Centre for Global Development, 15 October 2018) <https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/lets-be-real-informal-sector-and-gig-economy-are-future-and-present-work-africa_0.pdf> accessed 15 May 2022.
Novitz T ‘Gig Work as a Manifestation of Short-Termism: Crafting a Sustainable Regulatory Agenda’ (2021) 50(4) Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwab027>
Oberholzer R and Beer JC, ‘A Critical Analysis of the Concept of Independent Contractor in South Africa’ (2006) 39 De Jure.
Pilaar J ‘Assessing the Gig Economy in Comparative Perspective: How Platform Work Challenges the French and American Legal Orders’ (2018) 27 Journal of Law and Policy.
Phagane T, ‘E-Hailing Operators in South Africa Embarks on National Three-Day Strike’ SABC News (Johannesburg, 16 March 2022) <https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/__trashed-66/> accessed 22 May 2022.
Ponelis SR and Holmer MA, ‘ICT in Africa: Enabling a Better Life for All’ (2015) 21 Information Technology for Development <https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2015.1010307>
Powell B, ‘Identity Crisis: The Misclassification of California Uber Drivers’ 50(3) Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review.
Prassl J, ‘Members, Partners, Employees, Workers? Partnership Law and Employment Status Revisited. Clyde & Co LLP & Another v Bates van Winkelhof’ (2014) 43 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwu024>
Prassl J, ‘Who is a Worker’ (2017) 46 Law Quarterly Review.
Raj-Reichert G, Zajak S and Helmerich N, ‘Introduction to Special Issue on Digitization, Labour and Global Production’ (2021) 25 Competition & Change <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529420914478>
Ravanelle AJ, ‘Sharing Economy Workers: Selling or Not Sharing’ (2017) 10 Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529420914478>
Shaw MJ, E-Commerce and Digital Economy (Routledge 2006).
Smit N, ‘Selected Individual Labour Law and Jurisdictional Matters’ (2000) 2000 Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg.
Solomon EM and Klyton AV, ‘The Impact of Digital Technology Usage on Economic Growth in Africa’ (2020) 67 Utilities Policy <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2020.101104>
Stanford J, ‘The resurgence of gig work: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives’ (2017) 28(3) The Economic and Labour Relations Review <https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304617724303>
Stefano VD, ‘The Rise of the Just-in-Time Workforce: On-Demand, Crowd Work and Labour Protection in the ‘Gig Economy’” (2016) 37(3) Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal.
Stefano VD, ‘Introduction: Crowdsourcing, the Gig Economy and the Law’ (2016) 37 Comparative Labour Law & Policy Journal.
Theron J, ‘The Erosion of Workers’ Rights and the Presumption of Who is an Employee’ (2002) 6 Law, Democracy & Development.
Theron J, ‘Who’s in and Who’s Out: Labour Law and those Excluded from Its Protection’ (2007) 11 Law Democracy & Development.
Todoli-Signes A, ‘The Gig-Economy: Employees, Self-Employed or the Need for a Special Employment Regulation?’ (2017) 23 European Review of Labour and Research <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258917701381>
Tsbolane P, Belle JPV and Mudavanhu S, ‘Digital Gig Work in Africa: An Exploratory Survey’ (Improving African Livelihood with Digital Information and Technology Conference, Cape Town, 2018).
Valenduc G and Vendramin P, ‘Work in the Digital Economy: Sorting the Old from the New’ Working Paper of the European Trade Union Institute (2016) <https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/16%20WP%202016%2003%20Digital%20economy%20EN%20Web%20version.pdf> accessed 13 April 2023.
Waas B, Pavlou V and Gramano E, ‘Digital Economy and the Law: Introduction to this Special Issue’ (2018) 12 Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation <https://doi.org/10.13169/workorgalaboglob.12.2.0007>
Watson GP, Kistler LD, Graham BA and Sinclair RR, ‘Looking at the Gig Picture: Defining Gig Work and Explaining Profile Differences in Gig Workers’ Job Demands and Resources’ (2021) 46 Group and Organization Management <https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601121996548>
Wood AJ, Graham M and Hjorth I, ‘Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control of the Global Gig Economy’ (2019) 33(1) Work, Employment and Society <https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018785616>
World Bank Group, ‘Ghana Digital Economy Diagnostic – Stock Taking Report’ (2019), <https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/412821598381054828-0090022020/original/GhanaDE4ALOWRes.pdf.> accessed 22 May 2022.
Yeoh P, ‘Clyde & Co LLP & Another v Bates van Winkelhof [2012] EWCA Civ. 1207’ (2013) 34 Business Law Review <https://doi.org/10.54648/BULA2013027>
Legislation
Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997
<https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-v075n047.p069>
Employment Rights Act of 1996 (UK).
Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995.
Labour Act 651 of 2003.
The Code of Good Practice: Who is an Employee GG No. 29445 of 1 December 2006.
Workmen’s Compensation Act 87 of 1987.
Cases
Ghana and Nigeria
Olatunji & Others v Uber Technologies Systems (Nigeria) & Taxify Technology Limited Suit No. NICN/LA/564/2017 (unreported).
Volta Aluminium Co. Ltd v Akuffo and Others [2003-2004] SCGLR 1158.
UK and European Union
Byrne Bros (Formwork) Ltd v Baird [2002] ICR 667.
C-147/17 Syndicatul Familia Constanta v Directia Generala de Asistenta Sociala si Protectia Copilului Constanta [2019] ICR 211.
C-256/01 Allonby v Accrington and Rossendale College [2004] ICR 1328.
C-316/13 Fenoll v Centre d’Aide par le Travail La Jouvene [2016] IRLR 67.
C-428/09 Union Syndicale Solidaires Isere v Premier Ministre & Others [2010] ECR I-9961.
C-66/85 Lawrie-Blum v Land Baden-Wurttemberg [1987] ICR 483.
Cotswold Development Construction Ltd v William [2006] IRLR 181.
Hashwani v Jivraj [2011] UKSC 40.
McCormick v Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP [2014] SCC 39.
Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd v Gunning [1986] ICR 145.
C-434/15 Association Professional Elite Taxi v Uber Systems Spain SL, 20.12.2017, EU:C:2017:981 <https://doi.org/10.5209/FORO.59022>
Uber BV & Others v Aslam and Others [2021] UKSC 5.
South Africa
Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA & Others v Somerset West Society for the Aged (2001) 22 ILJ 919.
Dempsey v Home & Property (1995) 16 ILJ 378 <https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02645343>
Denel (Pty) Ltd v Gerber (2005) 26 ILJ 1256 (LAC).
Medical Association of South Africa & Others v Minister of Health & Another (1998) 18 ILJ 528 (LC).
Mpungose v Ridge Laundries CC (1999) 20 ILJ 704; Johnson v Piccollo Mama CC (2001) 22 ILJ 759 (CCMA).
Oosthuizen v CAN Mining & Engineering Supplies CC (1999) 20 ILJ 910.
Pam Golden Properties (Pty) Ltd v Erasmus & Others (2010) 31 ILJ 1460.
Phaka & Others v Bracks & Others (2015) 30 ILJ 1541 (LAC).
Smit v Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner [1979] 1 SA 51 (A).
South African Broadcasting Corporation v McKenzie (1999) 20 ILJ 585 (LAC).
State Technology Agency (Pty) Ltd v Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration & Others (2008) 29 ILJ 2234 (LAC).
Stein v Rising Tide Productions CC (2002) 23 ILJ 2017 <https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315196718-5>
Tshabalala v Moroka Swallows Football Club Ltd (1991) 12 ILJ 389.
Von Backstrom & Others v Independent Electoral Commission (2000) 21 ILJ 267.
Wyeth SA (Pty) Ltd v Manqele & Others (2005) 26 ILJ 749 (LAC).
National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) v Intervalve (Pty) Ltd [2015] 3 BLLR 205 (CC).
Other jurisdictions
AK, JH and JS v Uber Technologies Inc ALJ case no. 016-23858.
Barbara Ann Berwick v Uber Technologies Inc, A Delaware Corporation, and Raiser 11-46739 EK.
Heller v Uber Technologies Inc [2020] SCC 16.
O’Connor v Uber Technology Inc., 82 F. Supp. 3d, 113, 82F (ND. Cal. 2015).
SG Borello & Sons Inc v Department of Industrial Relations, 48 Cal. 3.d, 341 (S.C. 1989).
Uber Technologies Inc v Barbara Berwick GCG 15-546378.
Adams Z, Catherine Barnard, Simon Deakin and Sarah F Butlin, Deakin and Morris’ Labour Law (Bloomsbury Publishing 2021).
Amuso V, Giuliano P and Montibello D, ‘The Digital Economy: Opportunities and Challenges’ (2020) 11 Global Policy <https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12745>
Andoyan A, ‘Independent Contractor or an Employee: I’m Uber Confused! Why California Should Create an Exception for Uber Drivers and the “On-Demand Economy”’ (2017) 47 Golden Gate University Law Review.
Anwar MA and Graham M, ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Freedom, Flexibility, Precarity, and Vulnerability in the Gig Economy in Africa’ (2020) 25 Competition & Change <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529420914473>
Arthurs HW, ‘The Dependent Contractor: A Study of the Legal Problems of Countervailing Power’ (1965) 16(1) The University of Toronto Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.2307/825096>
Bales RA and Woo CP, ‘The Uber Million Dollar Question: Are Uber Drivers Employees or Independent Contractors?’ (2017) 68 Mercer Law Review.
Benjamin P, ‘An Accident of History: Who is (and Who Should Be) an Employee under South Africa Labour Law’ (2004) 25 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1163/221160205X00290>
Berger T, Frey CB, Levin G and Danda SR, ‘Uber Happy? Work Well and Well-being in the Gig-Economy’ (2020) 34 Economic Policy <https://doi.org/10.1093/epolic/eiz007>
Berisha-Shaquiri A and Berisha-Namani M, ‘Information Technology and the Digital Economy’ (2015) 6 Mediterranean Journal of Social Science <https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6p78>
Bogg A, ‘Common Law and Statute in the Law of Employment’ (2016) 69 Current Legal Problems <https://doi.org/10.1093/clp/cuw007>
Bogg A, ‘The Common Law Constitution at Work: R (on the Application of UNISON) v Lord Chancellor)’ (2018) 81 The Modern Law Review
<https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12343>
Bogg A and Ford M, ‘Between Statute and Contract: Who is a Worker?’ (2019) 135 Law Quarterly Review.
Bosch C, ‘Defining the Parameters of Employment: The Position of the Company Shareholder and Close Corporation Member’ (2004) 8 Law, Democracy & Development.
Brassey M, ‘The Nature of Employment’ (1990) 11 Industrial Law Journal.
Brodie D, ‘Employees, Workers and the Self-Employed’ (2005) 34 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwi017>
Bureau of Labour and Industries, ‘Advisory Opinion of the Commissioner on the Employment Status of Uber Drivers’ (14 October 2015) <http://media.oregonlive.com/commuting/other/101415%20Advisory%20Opinion%20on%20the%20Employment%20Status%20of%20Uber%20Drivers.pdf> accessed 22 May 2022.
Business and Financial Times, ‘Gig Economy Platform Create about 100000 Jobs – Report’ Business and Financial Times (Accra, 6 December 2021) <https://thebftonline.com/2021/12/06/gig-economy-platforms-create-about-100000-jobs-report/> accessed 22 May 2022.
Cabrelli D, Employment Law in Context: Texts and Materials (Oxford University Press 2020) <https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198840312.001.0001>
Calitz K, ‘Contracting Out of the Labour Relations Act: Vermooten v Department of Public Enterprises & Others (2017) 38 ILJ 607 (LAC)’ (2017) 29 South African Mercantile Law Journal.
Carlsson B, ‘The Digital Economy: What is New and What is Not?’ (2004) 15 Structural Changes and Economic Dynamics <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2004.02.001>
Carney B, ‘Uber Drivers Found to be Workers (UK)’ (2017) 2017 European Employment Law Cases.
Catherine B, EU Employment Law (Oxford University Press 2012).
Caza BB, Reid EM, Ashford SJ and Granger S, ‘Working on my Own: Measuring the Challenges of Gig Work’ (2022) 75(11) Human Relations <https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211030098>
Cherry MA and Aloisi A, ‘Dependent Contractor’ in the Gig Economy: A Comparative Approach’ (2017) 66(3) American University Law Review <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2847869>
Cilliers J, The Future of Africa (Springer International Publishing 2021) <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46590-2>
Collins H, ‘Independent Contractors and the Challenge of Vertical Disintegration of Employment Protection Laws’ (1990) 10 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies <https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/10.3.353>
Cornellissen J and Cholakova M, ‘Profits Uber Everything? The Gig Economy and the Morality of Category of Work’ (2019) 19 Strategic Organization <https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127019894506>
Cruz K, Hardy K and Sanders T, ‘False Self Employment, Autonomy and Regulating for Decent Work: Improving Working Conditions in the UK Stripping Industry’ (2017) 55 British Journal of Industrial Relations <https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12201>
Davidov G, A Purposive Approach to Labour Law (Oxford University Press 2016) <https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198759034.001.0001>
Davidov G, ‘The Status of Uber Drivers: A Purposive Approach’ (2017) 6 Spanish Labour Law and Employment Relations Journal <https://doi.org/10.20318/sllerj.2017.3921>
Davidov G, ‘Who is a Worker’ (2005) 34 Industrial Law Journal
<https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/34.1.57>
Davies ACL, ‘The Contract of Intermittent Employment’ (2007) 36 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwl043>
Deakin S, ‘Labour Law – The Pragmatist’s Approach – Comments on a Purposive Approach to Labour Law’ (2017) 16(2) Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies <https://doi.org/10.1093/jrls/jlx016
Debryne NL, ‘Uber Drivers: A Disputed Employment Relationship in Light of the Sharing Economy’ (2017) 92 Chicago-Kent Law Review.
Diedericks L, ‘The Employment Status of Magistrates in South Africa and the Concept of Judicial Independence’ (2017) 20 Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.17159/10.17159/1727-3781/2017/v20i0a1475>
Drahokoupil J and Jespen M, ‘The Digital Economy and its Implication for Labour: The Platform Economy’ (2016) 23 European Review of Labour and Research <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258917701380>
Dukes R, ‘Identifying the Purpose of Labour Law: Discussions of Guy Davidov’s Purposive Approach to Labour Law’ (2017) 16(1) Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies <https://doi.org/10.1093/jrls/jlx017>
Eck SV and Nemusimbori NE, ‘Uber Drivers: Sad to Say, But Not Employees of Uber SA’ (2018) 81 Tydskrif vir die Hedendaagse Romeins-Hollandse Reg.
Elspeth B, ‘When is a Partner/LLP Member Not a Partner/ LLP Member? The Interface with Employment and Worker Status’ (2014) 46 Industrial Law Journal.
Estlund C, ‘A Purposive Approach to Labour Law’ (2019) 40(2) Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal.
Ewan McGaughey, A Casebook on Labour Law (Hart Publishing 2019).
Fairwork ‘Towards Better Policies in the Platform Work: Ghana Ratings 2022’ (2022) <https://fair.work/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2022/11/221103_fairwork_ghana-report-2022_RZ.pdf> accessed 13 April 2023.
Fili V, ‘Platform Needs and Social Security Challenges’ in Fili V and Constantini F (eds), Legal Issues in the Digital Economy: The Impact of Disruptive Technologies in the Labour Market (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2019).
Foster C and Azmeh S, ‘Latecomer Economies and National Digital Policy: An Industrial Policy Perspective’ (2020) 56 The Journal of Development Studies <https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2019.1677886>
France A, Coffey J, Roberts S and Waite C, Youth Sociology (MacMillan Education 2020).
Freedland M, ‘The Contract of Employment and the Paradoxes of Precarity’ (2016) <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2794877>
Freedland M and Kountouris N, ‘Employment Equality and Personal Relations – A Critique of Jivraj v Hashwani’ (2012) 41 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dws008>
Graham M, Hjorth I and Lehdonvirta V, ‘Digital Labour and Development: Impact of Global Digital Labour Platforms and the Gig Economy on Worker Livelihoods’ (2017) 23 European Review of Labour and Research <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258916687250>
Huws U, Labour in the Global Digital Economy: The Cybertariat Comes of Age (Monthly Review Press 2014).
Johnston H and Land-Kazlauskas C, ‘Organizing On-Demand: Voice, and Collective Bargaining in the Gig Economy’ (2019) <https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_624286.pdf> accessed 15 April 2023.
Kaltner J, ‘Employment Status of Uber and Lyft Drivers: Unsettlingly Settled’ (2018) 29 Hastings Women’s Law Journal.
Kikiros S, ‘Dichotomy or Trichotomy? Defining Employee and Independent Contractors in an Evolving Market’ (2019) 45 University of Western Australia Law Review.
Kuhn KM and Galloway TL, ‘Expanding Perspectives on Gig Work and Workers’ (2019) 34(4) Journal of Managerial Psychology <https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-05-2019-507>
Kunsman C, ‘Ride-Sharing Company Drivers: Employees or Independent Contractors’ (2016) 26(1) South California Interdisciplinary Law Journal.
Le Roux R, ‘The Evolution of the Contract of Employment in South Africa’ (2010) 39 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwq002>
Leckey C, ‘Employment Tribunal Finds that Workers’ Transfer Under TUPE (UK)’ (2020) 5 European Employment Law Cases <https://doi.org/10.5553/EELC/187791072020005001010>
Litvinenko VS, ‘Digital Economy as a Factor in the Technological Development of the Mineral Sector’ (2020) 29 Natural Resources Research <https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-020-09716-1>
Louw AM, ‘The Common Law is…Not What it Used to Be: Revisiting Recognition of a Constitutionally Inspired Implied Duty of Fair Dealing in Common Law Contract of Employment (Part 3)’ (2018) 21 Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2018/v21i0a5662>
Lundquist B, ‘Standardization for the Digital Economy: The Issue of Interoperability and Access under Competition Law’ (2017) 62 Antitrust Bulletin <https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2977242>
Maloka TC and Okpaluba C, ‘Making Your Bed as an Independent Contractor but Refusing to Lie in It: Freelance Opportunism’ (2019) 31 South African Mercantile Law Journal.
Maloka TC and Okpaluba C, ‘The Dependent Contractor: A Missing Piece in the SITA Test and the Definition of Employee in the LRA’ (2021) 42 Industrial Law Journal.
Manamela E, ‘Employee and Independent Contractor: The Distinction Stands’ (2002) 14(1 South African Mercantile Law Journal.
Mastercard, ‘Mastercard Cross-Border Services: One Connection to Reach the World’ (2019) <https://b2b.mastercard.com/media/qujbwp2a/mastercard-cross-border-services-capabilities-paper.pdf> accessed 15 April 2023.
McCrudden C, ‘Two Views of Subordination: The Personal Scope of Employment Discrimination Law in Jivraj v Hashwani’ (2012) 41 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dws006>
McGaughey E, ‘Uber, the Taylor Review, Mutuality, and the Duty not to Misrepresent Employment Status’ (2019) 48 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwy014>
Mokoena K, ‘Are Uber Drivers Employees? A Look at Emerging Business Models and Whether they can be Accommodated by South African Labour Law’ (2016) 37 Industrial Law Journal.
Mokoena K, Are Uber Drivers Employees or Independent Contractors: A Comparative Analysis’ (2018) 39 Industrial Law Journal.
Molos S, Lester GV and Virick M, ‘Uber Drivers and Employment Status in the Gig Economy: Should Corporate Social Responsibility Tip the Scales?’ (2018) 30 Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-018-9325-9>
Mpedi LG and Coleman TE, Labour Law in Ghana (LexisNexis 2022).
Mureinik E, ‘The Contract of Service: An Easy Test for Hard Cases’ (1980) 97(2) South African Law Journal.
Ng’weno A and Porteous D, ‘Let’s Be Real: The Informal Sector and the Gig-Economy are the Future, and the Present, of Work in Africa’ (Centre for Global Development, 15 October 2018) <https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/lets-be-real-informal-sector-and-gig-economy-are-future-and-present-work-africa_0.pdf> accessed 15 May 2022.
Novitz T ‘Gig Work as a Manifestation of Short-Termism: Crafting a Sustainable Regulatory Agenda’ (2021) 50(4) Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwab027>
Oberholzer R and Beer JC, ‘A Critical Analysis of the Concept of Independent Contractor in South Africa’ (2006) 39 De Jure.
Pilaar J ‘Assessing the Gig Economy in Comparative Perspective: How Platform Work Challenges the French and American Legal Orders’ (2018) 27 Journal of Law and Policy.
Phagane T, ‘E-Hailing Operators in South Africa Embarks on National Three-Day Strike’ SABC News (Johannesburg, 16 March 2022) <https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/__trashed-66/> accessed 22 May 2022.
Ponelis SR and Holmer MA, ‘ICT in Africa: Enabling a Better Life for All’ (2015) 21 Information Technology for Development <https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2015.1010307>
Powell B, ‘Identity Crisis: The Misclassification of California Uber Drivers’ 50(3) Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review.
Prassl J, ‘Members, Partners, Employees, Workers? Partnership Law and Employment Status Revisited. Clyde & Co LLP & Another v Bates van Winkelhof’ (2014) 43 Industrial Law Journal <https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwu024>
Prassl J, ‘Who is a Worker’ (2017) 46 Law Quarterly Review.
Raj-Reichert G, Zajak S and Helmerich N, ‘Introduction to Special Issue on Digitization, Labour and Global Production’ (2021) 25 Competition & Change <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529420914478>
Ravanelle AJ, ‘Sharing Economy Workers: Selling or Not Sharing’ (2017) 10 Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024529420914478>
Shaw MJ, E-Commerce and Digital Economy (Routledge 2006).
Smit N, ‘Selected Individual Labour Law and Jurisdictional Matters’ (2000) 2000 Tydskrif vir die Suid-Afrikaanse Reg.
Solomon EM and Klyton AV, ‘The Impact of Digital Technology Usage on Economic Growth in Africa’ (2020) 67 Utilities Policy <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2020.101104>
Stanford J, ‘The resurgence of gig work: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives’ (2017) 28(3) The Economic and Labour Relations Review <https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304617724303>
Stefano VD, ‘The Rise of the Just-in-Time Workforce: On-Demand, Crowd Work and Labour Protection in the ‘Gig Economy’” (2016) 37(3) Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal.
Stefano VD, ‘Introduction: Crowdsourcing, the Gig Economy and the Law’ (2016) 37 Comparative Labour Law & Policy Journal.
Theron J, ‘The Erosion of Workers’ Rights and the Presumption of Who is an Employee’ (2002) 6 Law, Democracy & Development.
Theron J, ‘Who’s in and Who’s Out: Labour Law and those Excluded from Its Protection’ (2007) 11 Law Democracy & Development.
Todoli-Signes A, ‘The Gig-Economy: Employees, Self-Employed or the Need for a Special Employment Regulation?’ (2017) 23 European Review of Labour and Research <https://doi.org/10.1177/1024258917701381>
Tsbolane P, Belle JPV and Mudavanhu S, ‘Digital Gig Work in Africa: An Exploratory Survey’ (Improving African Livelihood with Digital Information and Technology Conference, Cape Town, 2018).
Valenduc G and Vendramin P, ‘Work in the Digital Economy: Sorting the Old from the New’ Working Paper of the European Trade Union Institute (2016) <https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/16%20WP%202016%2003%20Digital%20economy%20EN%20Web%20version.pdf> accessed 13 April 2023.
Waas B, Pavlou V and Gramano E, ‘Digital Economy and the Law: Introduction to this Special Issue’ (2018) 12 Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation <https://doi.org/10.13169/workorgalaboglob.12.2.0007>
Watson GP, Kistler LD, Graham BA and Sinclair RR, ‘Looking at the Gig Picture: Defining Gig Work and Explaining Profile Differences in Gig Workers’ Job Demands and Resources’ (2021) 46 Group and Organization Management <https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601121996548>
Wood AJ, Graham M and Hjorth I, ‘Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control of the Global Gig Economy’ (2019) 33(1) Work, Employment and Society <https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018785616>
World Bank Group, ‘Ghana Digital Economy Diagnostic – Stock Taking Report’ (2019), <https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/412821598381054828-0090022020/original/GhanaDE4ALOWRes.pdf.> accessed 22 May 2022.
Yeoh P, ‘Clyde & Co LLP & Another v Bates van Winkelhof [2012] EWCA Civ. 1207’ (2013) 34 Business Law Review <https://doi.org/10.54648/BULA2013027>
Legislation
Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997
<https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-v075n047.p069>
Employment Rights Act of 1996 (UK).
Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995.
Labour Act 651 of 2003.
The Code of Good Practice: Who is an Employee GG No. 29445 of 1 December 2006.
Workmen’s Compensation Act 87 of 1987.
Cases
Ghana and Nigeria
Olatunji & Others v Uber Technologies Systems (Nigeria) & Taxify Technology Limited Suit No. NICN/LA/564/2017 (unreported).
Volta Aluminium Co. Ltd v Akuffo and Others [2003-2004] SCGLR 1158.
UK and European Union
Byrne Bros (Formwork) Ltd v Baird [2002] ICR 667.
C-147/17 Syndicatul Familia Constanta v Directia Generala de Asistenta Sociala si Protectia Copilului Constanta [2019] ICR 211.
C-256/01 Allonby v Accrington and Rossendale College [2004] ICR 1328.
C-316/13 Fenoll v Centre d’Aide par le Travail La Jouvene [2016] IRLR 67.
C-428/09 Union Syndicale Solidaires Isere v Premier Ministre & Others [2010] ECR I-9961.
C-66/85 Lawrie-Blum v Land Baden-Wurttemberg [1987] ICR 483.
Cotswold Development Construction Ltd v William [2006] IRLR 181.
Hashwani v Jivraj [2011] UKSC 40.
McCormick v Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP [2014] SCC 39.
Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd v Gunning [1986] ICR 145.
C-434/15 Association Professional Elite Taxi v Uber Systems Spain SL, 20.12.2017, EU:C:2017:981 <https://doi.org/10.5209/FORO.59022>
Uber BV & Others v Aslam and Others [2021] UKSC 5.
South Africa
Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA & Others v Somerset West Society for the Aged (2001) 22 ILJ 919.
Dempsey v Home & Property (1995) 16 ILJ 378 <https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02645343>
Denel (Pty) Ltd v Gerber (2005) 26 ILJ 1256 (LAC).
Medical Association of South Africa & Others v Minister of Health & Another (1998) 18 ILJ 528 (LC).
Mpungose v Ridge Laundries CC (1999) 20 ILJ 704; Johnson v Piccollo Mama CC (2001) 22 ILJ 759 (CCMA).
Oosthuizen v CAN Mining & Engineering Supplies CC (1999) 20 ILJ 910.
Pam Golden Properties (Pty) Ltd v Erasmus & Others (2010) 31 ILJ 1460.
Phaka & Others v Bracks & Others (2015) 30 ILJ 1541 (LAC).
Smit v Workmen’s Compensation Commissioner [1979] 1 SA 51 (A).
South African Broadcasting Corporation v McKenzie (1999) 20 ILJ 585 (LAC).
State Technology Agency (Pty) Ltd v Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration & Others (2008) 29 ILJ 2234 (LAC).
Stein v Rising Tide Productions CC (2002) 23 ILJ 2017 <https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315196718-5>
Tshabalala v Moroka Swallows Football Club Ltd (1991) 12 ILJ 389.
Von Backstrom & Others v Independent Electoral Commission (2000) 21 ILJ 267.
Wyeth SA (Pty) Ltd v Manqele & Others (2005) 26 ILJ 749 (LAC).
National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) v Intervalve (Pty) Ltd [2015] 3 BLLR 205 (CC).
Other jurisdictions
AK, JH and JS v Uber Technologies Inc ALJ case no. 016-23858.
Barbara Ann Berwick v Uber Technologies Inc, A Delaware Corporation, and Raiser 11-46739 EK.
Heller v Uber Technologies Inc [2020] SCC 16.
O’Connor v Uber Technology Inc., 82 F. Supp. 3d, 113, 82F (ND. Cal. 2015).
SG Borello & Sons Inc v Department of Industrial Relations, 48 Cal. 3.d, 341 (S.C. 1989).
Uber Technologies Inc v Barbara Berwick GCG 15-546378.
Downloads
Published
2023-09-18
How to Cite
Coleman, Theophilus Edwin, and Letlhokwa George Mpedi. 2023. “Accommodating New Modes of Work in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Ghana: Some Comparative Lessons from the United Kingdom and South Africa”. Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa 56 (1):35 pages. https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-3062/11831.
Issue
Section
Articles
License
© Published by the Department of Public, Constitutional and International Law, University of South Africa and Unisa Press.
