Informalising Employment Relations through Partnership Schemes: An Analysis of Disguised Employment and Dependent Self-Employment in Miss Cimory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22146/jsds.30258Keywords:
informal workers; partnership; disguised employment; dependent self-employment; Miss CimoryAbstract
The increasing informalization of work has transformed the labor structure and encouraged the emergence of various forms of employment relationships, including the partnership scheme. In practice, companies may adopt partnership schemes that create disguised employment relationships or dependent self-employment (Izzati, 2021). Within labour studies, disguised employment is a condition in which workers' employment status is concealed, and dependent self employment is a condition in which workers are formally self-employed but remain economically dependent because they are subject to labour process control. One program that adopts a partnership scheme is Miss Cimory which recruits homemakers as entrepreneurs to sell Cimory products directly to households. This study aims to analyse whether the partnership scheme in the Miss Cimory program exhibits these characteristics. This study employs a qualitative approach with a descriptive design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and document analysis. The findings indicate that although Miss Cimory participants are formally positioned as partners, in practice, there is economic dependency and indications of control over the labour process. These findings suggest that the Miss Cimory partnership represents a form of dependent self-employment with a tendency toward disguised employment, highlighting the need to strengthen worker protection within partnership-based work arrangements.
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