From 1 January 2025, the Industrial Relations Act will be amended to provide for the regulation of the relations of platform operators and platform workers and the prevention and settlement of disputes by collective bargaining, conciliation and arbitration.
Before a platform work association can represent its platform worker members in collective bargaining, it must be accorded recognition by the platform operator.
Collective bargaining process
Once a platform work association is given recognition, it will become the sole negotiating body for the platform workers it represents and collectively negotiate with the platform operator on the terms of work and benefits. Given that platform work is quite diverse and dynamic, the platform work association and platform operator can decide the areas to negotiate on.
The platform work association may serve on the platform operator a notice inviting the latter to negotiate on industrial matters such as negotiations for a Collective Agreement. Likewise, the platform operator may serve such a notice to the platform work association to negotiate on industrial matters. The receiving party is required to accept the invitation to negotiate. Negotiations should commence as early as possible. If either party does not respond, the other party can seek conciliation assistance from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
A Collective Agreement is an agreement between a platform operator and the platform work association on the platform workers’ terms and conditions of work. The Collective Agreement is valid for a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 3 years. Once a Collective Agreement is signed, it must be filed with the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC) for certification within one week from the date of signing.
Conciliation
If both parties are unable to reach an agreement at the company’s level on a Collective Agreement or other industrial matters, the platform work association or platform operator can seek conciliation assistance from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). MOM will proceed to arrange a conciliation meeting within 14 days upon receiving the notification filed and invite both parties for a meeting to resolve the dispute amicably.
Referral of Dispute to Industrial Arbitration Court
If a trade dispute cannot be resolved after conciliation at MOM, the trade dispute may be referred to the IAC for arbitration. Escalating a trade dispute to the IAC should be a last resort for consideration when all attempts to reach an agreement through conciliation have failed.
A platform worker who is a member of a platform work association, who considers that their platform work agreement with the platform operator has been terminated without just cause or excuse, may make a representation through their platform work association to the Minister for Manpower to resume access to platform service tasks within one month of the termination.