Govt seeks feedback on protecting delivery workers, point-to-point drivers

The authorities are seeking feedback on how to better protect point-to-point drivers and delivery gig workers who currently do not have the same negotiating power, financial benefits and medical insurance that other full-time employees do.

The Advisory Committee on Platform Workers will consult stakeholders including workers and companies.

Delivery workers, private-hire drivers and taxi drivers who work with platform companies are considered self-employed, and do not receive employee benefits from the companies they work for.

They make up about 3 per cent of Singapore's resident workforce, or 79,000 people.

Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower and adviser to the advisory committee, said yesterday that these workers lack basic employment protections like work injury compensation, union representation and Central Provident Fund employer contributions.

"(They) earn more modest wages compared with other employees... The advisory committee, comprising representatives from the Government, labour movement, industry and academia, aims to find a way forward that balances the interests of all stakeholders," he said.

In 2019, the median take-home pay of people whose main source of income is platform work was in the bottom 20 per cent of the working population here. But the committee noted that platform workers are a diverse group.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the earnings of drivers were significantly affected, while food delivery transactions reached record levels.

The level of reliance of different workers on their platform gigs is also different - some have full-time jobs, while others have contracts with multiple platforms.

One of the committee's challenges is to account for these differences while ensuring that any new regulations to render help are not too complicated to enforce or for workers to understand, it said.

It is also concerned that changes may have unintended consequences for the attractiveness of platform work; many of those who choose it value the autonomy it gives them in deciding when to work and how to save.

A key goal is to help platform workers better save for their housing and retirement needs while balancing this with cost considerations of the businesses.

Another concern is better insurance protection for platform workers, who spend a disproportionate amount of time on the roads but are not covered under the Work Injury Compensation Act.

Lastly, the committee is considering allowing platform workers to unionise to ensure they have a greater say in their share of the fees, training support and medical benefits, as well as how disputes are resolved.

The committee aims to complete its work by the second half of next year. The public can give feedback by Dec 15 at go.gov.sg/ feedbackplatformworkers