Committee not ruling out legal changes to protect gig workers

A committee tasked to look into protections for gig workers is not ruling out legislative changes in working towards a fairer, more balanced relationship between such workers and their companies.

Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Health Koh Poh Koon, adviser to the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers, told reporters that it will consult widely to come up with a balanced set of recommendations by the second half of next year.

These may involve legislative change or a set of guidelines by unions, workers and employers, he said after the committee met for the first time yesterday.

Platform workers include delivery riders, private-hire car drivers and taxi drivers. The committee has zeroed in on three priority areas: improving retirement and housing adequacy, ensuring adequate financial protection in case of work injury, and closing the gap in bargaining power between workers and platforms.

Economics professor Danny Quah, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and vice-chair of the committee, said: "Many of these (workers)... lack basic job protections in a way that's quite different and unequal relative to other kinds of workers in our economy."

As self-employed people, platform workers contribute about 8 per cent to 10.5 per cent of their income to their MediSave, but the companies they work for do not have to make Central Provident Fund contributions for them.

As they are not considered employees, they are also not covered under the Employment Act and are not able to form unions.

Institute for Human Resource Professionals chair Goh Swee Chen, who chairs the committee, hopes platform companies recognise the important role such workers play. She noted that consumers are more discerning and will look not just at the benefits the platforms bring, but also at how they treat their workers.

"Ensuring their well-being is not just a pro-worker stance, but it also helps the sustainability of the business as they continue to grow and prosper in this particular segment," she said.

The committee will form a resource panel for platform companies like Grab, foodpanda and Deliveroo to provide feedback directly. This lets them participate more openly and even share commercially sensitive data, which they may not be able to do if they were all on the same committee, Dr Koh said.

The committee would work with these companies to gain a deeper understanding of the workers through data such as how long they work and what their average earnings are.

A key issue many countries have had to grapple with is how such workers can be afforded basic protections while still allowing them the flexibility of working for several different firms.

Dr Koh said: "We do want to make sure that we don't end up over-distorting the marketplace, and to preserve some of the flexibility both the platform operators and workers desire."

Prof Quah said that even if nothing is done to provide basic protection for gig workers, there would be no "free ride for society", as there would eventually be social costs to bear.

"If we don't have social protection, our workforce is not sustainable, companies' profitability will not be sustained."

The 15-member committee is made up of representatives from the Government, industry, labour movement and academia.

Latest figures showed there were 228,200 resident workers engaged in own-account work - such as freelancers or the self-employed - last year. This is up from 211,000 in 2019.