Grab, Gojek, others get low score on fair work index in Indonesia: report

Grab and Gojek, among other ride-hailing firms operating in Indonesia, have failed to deliver on the promise of offering fair pay to their gig workers, a report by Fairwork Foundation said.

Photo credit: The Low Down

This comes despite the Indonesian government’s attempt to ensure fair competition among ride-hailing firms by setting up a minimum per-kilometer fare according to operational region.

“Given the total number of working hours – including wait time – that workers have to dedicate to the platform, plus their work-related costs, this is insufficient to guarantee that workers will earn a net hourly income above either living or minimum wage levels,” the report noted.

Other ride-hailing firms in Indonesia, including Maxim, Anteraja, Ninja Xpress, and Paxel lie below the halfway mark of Fairwork’s maximum score of 10. This reflects an absence of labor protections in the wider informal economy and the platform economy in the country.

Photo credit: Fairwork

While Grab, Gojek, and Paxel offer accident insurance, emergency helplines, and access to health insurance for their workers, such initiatives were not taken up by Anteraja, Ninja Xpress, and Maxim.

“Workers still face a lot of issues regarding working conditions,” the report said. “For example, long working hours are one factor behind the ‘success’ of most gig workers, representing a classic trade-off between income generation and quality of life.”

See also: Ninja Van CEO talks profitability, deals with Grab, and pitfalls of the gig economy

Zoom in on Grab

In what Fairwork describes as “generally poor performance” by ride-hailing firms in Indonesia, Grab came out ahead of some of the other companies with a score of five out of 10 points (Gojek’s GoCar and GoRide offerings also had the same score).

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Grab has offered a handful of measures to its workers over the years. More than the accident insurance and emergency helpline, it also provides access to discounted goods and services such as health insurance and healthcare, an extensive training program, and Covid-19-related sick pay.

A legal loophole