Andrew Stewart, a professor of law at the University of Adelaide and Jim Stanford, an economist from the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute have presented five possible options to strengthen regulation of what is known as "gig work". Gig work includes short job contracts obtained through online platforms including Uber and Airtasker.

The options outlined in a paper published in the latest edition of The Economic and Labour Relations Review include clarifying or expanding the legal definition of employment to prevent gig workers falling through the cracks of Fair Work laws.

???The paper cites US research which this year reported that 55 per cent of people who earn money through digital platforms earn less than $100 per month and 85 per cent earn less than $500 per month. Australian researchers have also found that the hourly income for part-time ride-sharing workers often falls well below legal minimum wages for employees.

Uber driver Joe Lipszyc, who has been driving for 18 months in Melbourne, said the industry had changed a lot.

"When I started there weren't as many drivers, obviously the more drivers, the less work we are getting," he said.

"So it's not as lucrative as it was before because we are spending a lot of time waiting for jobs."

Mr Lipszyc said he worked 50 hours a week and earned somewhere between $15 to $30 an hour.

"I do it just as an extra thing ... so I wouldn't say I am going to get rich doing it," he said.

Uber's business model is being tested in British courts after a British Employment Tribunal last year found two Uber drivers were entitled to minimum wages, holiday pay and other benefits under employment laws. The decision is under appeal and its outcome could set a precedent for any similar challenges in Australia.

"I'm going to be mildly surprised if we don't see Uber or other similar companies before the courts in the next couple of years," Professor Stewart said.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched an investigation into Uber and whether its contracts with tens of thousands of Australian drivers are in breach of federal workplace laws.

While there are statutes and regulations in Australia that could apply to gig workers, their relevance and power remain untested and unclear. This includes the application of Work Health and Safety laws.

Professor Stewart and Dr Stanford point out that even Work Health and Safety protections may need clarification and strengthening to ensure that more gig workers are protected by their provisions.

Australian protections of minimum wages, entitlements to paid leave and protection against unfair dismissal under the Fair Work Act 2009 apply only to employees. However, the act does not explicitly define an employee. It is left for the courts to determine whether someone is an employee based on the substance of their employment relationship.

The options include expanding the reach of existing laws to apply to gig workers. Definitions of employment could be also be expanded to include gig work.

A new category of independent worker might be created - although Professor Stewart and Dr Stanford were sceptical about this option which would be hard to define - and another to create rights for workers, as opposed to employees. This would mean abandoning employment status and applying protections to anyone performing "work".

The five options:

1: Confirm and enforce existing laws. Confirm the relationship is a form of employment according to existing statute and definitions.

2: Clarify or expand the definitions of employment. This would capture the different relationship between a digital intermediary and its workers.

3: Create a new category of "independent worker". This would define new rights and protections for gig workers.

4: Create rights for workers, not employees. This would sidestep the challenge of defining the employment status of these workers and confirm they are entitled to protection by virtue of the productive work they perform.

5: Reconsider the concept of employer: this would redefine what it means to be an 'employer' and make it possible for a gig worker to have different employers for different purposes.

With Neelima Choahan