• The Future of Work – rise of the Gig economy
  
• The Gig economy and entrepreneurial spirit
  
• Workers’ status – employees or independent contractors?
  
• Reality check – protection or exploitation?
  
• Workers’ rights – Dynamex case (US), Uber case (London) a
• Regulating the GIG economy – the options
  
• Law and practice in various jurisdictions – California, UK, EU
  
• The future outlook for Malaysia

On October 22, 2019, Malaysian Prime Minister told Parliament that the gig economy has been identified as a new source of economic growth and will be made part of the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMP12). He added that the government is considering new laws to regulate the gig economy. The government has set up a special committee (comprising representatives from three ministries) to resolve various issues related to the gig economy.

These new laws are necessary because currently there are no laws to regulate it and to protect the workers. Unlike regular employees, gig economy workers do not have financial safety nets, such as pension and savings in the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

There are currently some 13,000 Foodpanda and 10,000 Grab Food riders in the Klang Valley, and over 160,000 e-hailing drivers employed under the gig economy. According to the Employees Provident Fund, the gig economy in Malaysia has grown by 31% in 2017, surpassing the growth in the conventional workforce. This number is expected to grow in the next few years.

In Australia, about a million self-employed people work in the gig economy. According to the World Bank, about 40% of US workers will be in “non-standard jobs” by the year 2020. According to the same source, about 26% of the Malaysian work-force are freelancers and that the number is growing.

A gig economy is a free market system where temporary positions are common and corporations engage independent workers for short-term durations. The term “gig” is a slang word meaning “a job for a specified period of time” and is typically used in referring to musicians, singers, entertainers.

In a gig economy, temporary jobs and flexible hours are the norm, and corporations hire “independent contractors” and freelancers, not full-time employees. Operating on an online platform, the gig economy thus runs counter to the ” traditional economy” where full-time workers usually focus on building a life-long career in their place of employment.

In September 2019, California enacted a new law (known as Assembly Bill 5), which codifies and extends a 2018 California Supreme court ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles and is expected to benefit at least one million workers engaged as ride-hailing drivers, food-delivery couriers, janitors, nail salon workers, and construction workers. .

This new course will enable the participants to have an in-depth appreciation of the development of the laws affecting the gig economy in various jurisdiction (local and abroad) and conclude with strategies and recommendations for the future gig economy in Malaysia.

• Entrepreneurs
• Investors
• Financial Managers
  
• Chief Operating Officer
  
• Chief Executive Officers
  
• Senior Managers
  
• Human Resource Managers
  
• Financial Institutions
  
• Legal Advisers / Legal Officers
  
• Regulators / lawmakers
  
• Freelancers / Millennials / Self-employed
  
• Policy makers
  
• Strategic planners
  
• Consultants