<![CDATA[The rapid expansion of platform-based transport has transformed employment relationships in Indonesia while challenging conventional distinctions between employees, independent contractors, and business partners. Online motorcycle drivers frequently operate under partnership arrangements that may limit access to statutory labor protections despite their economic dependence on digital platforms. This study reassesses the legal status of online motorcycle drivers from the perspective of social protection and economic justice. Employing a doctrinal legal research approach complemented by secondary empirical evidence, the study examines Indonesian labor regulations, partnership arrangements, platform terms and conditions, and relevant judicial and policy developments. The analysis focuses on whether the existing legal framework adequately addresses income insecurity, occupational risks, working-time dependence, social security coverage, and bargaining asymmetries between drivers and platforms. The study argues that formal classification as partners may obscure substantive characteristics of platform work that resemble dependent employment. Consequently, legal protection should be evaluated not solely through contractual terminology but through the actual distribution of economic power and risk. The study contributes to the emerging literature on platform labor by proposing a social-protection-oriented approach to legal classification. It also highlights the need for regulatory frameworks capable of reconciling technological innovation, platform flexibility, and minimum standards of economic security.]]>
