" LOW PAY, NO SUPPORT: Sri Lanka Delivery Drivers Fight for Worker Rights", 04 November 2024

As in many countries, the gig economy in Sri Lanka is expanding, spurred in part by job loss during the COVID pandemic and the country’s severe economic crisis. Sri Lanka’s app-based taxi drivers and delivery workers are classified as freelancers or self-employed workers, an independent worker status outside labor regulation.

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They are not covered by hard-won labor laws that mandate a minimum wage, social protections, and the right to join or form a union and bargain collectively.

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Drivers and deliverers reported that the companies behind these platforms take little responsibility for providing a living wage, job safety or basic benefits like health care and sick leave.

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While platform workers reported attempting to organize themselves into unions, they face obstacles from the absence of a regulatory environment and also resistance from employers.

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None of the drivers or deliverers surveyed or interviewed receive vacation or sick pay.

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issues are compounded for women platform workers, who also experience sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence on the job