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Oral Answer by Senior Minister of State for Manpower, Dr Koh Poh Koon, on PQs on Platform Workers

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 672 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 13 SEPTEMBER

QUESTION NO. 1673 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: MS CHENG LI HUI

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether there is data on the number of people who are doing gig work full-time; (b) whether platform gig workers can be considered for some form of medical and insurance benefits as well as annual leave; and (c) whether these workers need to clock in a minimum number of hours per week to qualify for any possible benefits.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 678 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 13 SEPTEMBER

QUESTION NO. 1706 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: MS YEO WAN LING

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry monitors the average income and the number of self-employed persons (SEPs) working as delivery riders for food and parcel delivery platforms; (b) if so, how many SEPs are currently working as delivery riders and what is their average income; and (c) whether there are any differences in the average income for this group of SEPs in the past three years and, if so, what are the differences.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 681 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 13 SEPTEMBER

QUESTION NO. 1725 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: MS YEO WAN LING

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry has examined the relationship of gig workers and their platform partners, in particular, workers being tied to employee-like relationships with the platform; and (b) whether there are intended studies on the impact of working on such platforms to the worker’s medical, housing and retirement adequacy and the role of platform partners in contributing to these safety nets for the worker.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 681 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 13 SEPTEMBER

QUESTION NO. 1726 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: MR SHARAEL TAHA

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry will consider (i) legislating workplace protection and benefits (such as healthcare, paid/childcare/paternity/maternity leave) and contribution to CPF (including MediSave) for platform workers from their platform providers and (ii) the economic impact to the operating costs of business for these platforms; (b) whether the Ministry will put in measures to ensure the increase in cost is not entirely passed on to consumers.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 681 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 14 SEPTEMBER

QUESTION NO. 1734 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: MR SEAH KIAN PENG

To ask the Minister for Manpower with regard to the structure of the gig economy, what can be done to strike a more equitable and balanced relationship between platform companies and platform workers.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 681 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 14 SEPTEMBER

QUESTION NO. 1738 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: MR MELVIN YONG YIK CHYE

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) for each of the past three years, what is the number of injuries and fatalities suffered by food and goods delivery riders; (b) whether the Ministry has studied a possible correlation between higher frequency of such accidents and timing such as in the later part of the day, as riders rush to meet daily incentive targets; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider regulating the incentive structures of large gig economy platforms to better protect the health and safety of such self-employed persons.

Answer

  1. Mr Speaker, with your permission, I would like to take these questions together. I thank Members for their questions following the Prime Minister’s announcement at the National Day Rally that MOM will be studying the issue of self-employed persons and their relationship with platform companies.
  2. In 2020, about 190,000 persons were engaged in self-employment1 as their main source of income, of which about 79,000 worked with matching platform companies. Among such platform workers, about half are private-hire car drivers and one-third are taxi drivers. The rest are mostly car and light goods vehicle drivers, who use delivery service platforms to obtain delivery work. From 2018 to 2020, the median monthly income of full-time employed residents in these three occupations ranged between $1,500 and $2,000. Mr Melvin Yong had filed a related question on the number of injuries and fatalities suffered by food and goods delivery riders. To his question, the number of fatalities has remained low. In 2019 and 2020, there were two fatalities each year. In 2018, the first year we started tracking this, there was zero fatalities. We do not currently have data on traffic-related injuries suffered by these delivery riders.
  3. The work arrangements of platform workers can resemble those of employees. The platform companies set the price of their product, determine which jobs are assigned to which workers, and manage how the workers perform, including imposing penalties and suspensions. Most platform workers earn a modest income, even before the impact of COVID-19, and may find it harder to afford housing, healthcare and retirement.
  4. Because their contracts with platform companies are not employment contracts, they do not have basic job protections that most employees enjoy, such as work injury compensation, union representation and employer CPF. This is a concern as more people take up such work and some at a young age.
  5. To look into strengthening protections for platform workers, specifically delivery workers, private-hire car drivers and taxi drivers, and ensuring a more balanced relationship between platforms and platform workers, an Advisory Committee will be convened. The committee will need time to consult widely with stakeholders and study these issues carefully before making its recommendations. The points raised by Members will be shared with the Advisory Committee, so that they can take them into account when studying the issues.

[1] Self-employed persons (SEPs) in the survey findings cited here refer to regular own account workers who operate their own business without hiring any paid employees. It does not include the other self-employed categories of ‘employers’ and ‘contributing family workers’.