Fairwork is to launch its maiden report on the working conditions of gig workers in Ghana, today, November 30, 2021. The Fairwork Ghana 2021 report evaluates the working conditions of 10 digital labour platforms against five global principles of Fairwork, including fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management, and fair representation.
Each of the platforms operating in Ghana (including Uber Bolt, Bolt Food, Yango, Black Ride, Swift Wheel, IFerch, Eziban, Jumia Food and Glovo) were scored against all five principles to assess whether they provide basic labour standards like minimum wage or protection against accidents.
The report collected data from May to October 2021 from digital platform workers and managers in Accra, Kumasi, and Takoradi. The Fairwork Ghana project is supported by ‘Invest for Jobs’ of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Invest for Jobs is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH among others.
Ghana has witnessed a rapid growth of the platform economy, and its associated employment opportunities for thousands of its citizens, in recent years. However, existing labour laws do not adequately protect these workers, who work mainly with ride-hailing and delivery apps.
Therefore, the Fairwork Ghana report is set to provide a baseline of the current situation of platform workers in Ghana to kick start a national conversation on how to improve their working conditions while harnessing the potential of these platforms to create decent jobs.
Fairwork is a global project based at the Oxford Internet Institute and the WZB Berlin Social Science Centre. Through a global network of researchers, Fairwork evaluates digital platforms’ working conditions and ranks them based on five principles of fair work.
Globally, Fairwork collaborates closely with workers, platforms, advocates, and policymakers to envision and build a fairer future of work. The Fairwork Ghana Project is hosted by the University of Ghana Business School and implemented in collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
The report will be launched at a media interaction on November 30, 2021, at the University of Ghana Business School.
