Studies on Platform Work From the Perspective of Non-standard Employment——Evidence from Investigation on Platform Employment of E-hailing Drivers

The growth of platform economy has engendered new forms of employment. From the perspective of employment modalities, this article categorizes platform work into standard and non-standard employment (NSE) and examines features and major issues of platform work and its different categories, exemplified by e-hailing drivers using national investigation data. This study finds that platform employment plays an important role in creating jobs and increasing income for platform workers. Yet, overtime work and lack of social insurance are quite prominent. Social insurance challenges among platform workers are mainly caused by the lack of social insurance among workers in the category of non-standard employment. Job satisfaction level of workers in non-standard employment is lower than those in standard employment. Correlation analysis reveals negative correlation between NSE and monthly average earnings, social insurance and job satisfaction. This paper suggests that it is necessary to change and manage current varied contract status within platform employment, and explore the implementation of a quasi-labor contract system. Regulating working hours and social insurance, should be highlighted in the regulation of platform employment. In exploration of regulating platform employment, targeted management should be implemented corresponding to different forms of employment. In addition, it is necessary to formulate specific employment policy and implement platform work investigation.