According to a statement released by the Ministry of Manpower, the Government has adopted all 12 recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers, which include mandating employers to cover gig workers under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA) (MoM).
The proposals will be implemented gradually starting in the later half of 2024 at the earliest by the Government in collaboration with Platform Workers and Platform Companies. It will be necessary to amend the law. According to the MoM statement, the Government would also exercise flexibility and modify the implementation schedule as necessary, depending on the economic situation.
In order to increase protection for platform workers in three areas of concern, the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers was established in September 2021.
a. ensuring sufficient financial protection in the event of a work injury b. increasing the sufficiency of housing and retirement plans c. improving representation
Recommendations
The suggestions comprise:
1. Platform Workers need not to be regarded as workers.
2. Platform Companies must offer Platform Workers some fundamental safeguards if they are subject to a high degree of managerial control.
The following suggestions are made about platform workers' financial security in the event of a workplace injury:
Platform Companies must offer workers' compensation benefits with the same breadth and quality as employees are entitled to under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA).
Based on the Platform Worker's overall earnings from the platform sector in which the injury was sustained, the Platform Company that the Platform Worker was employed by at the time of the accident will be liable for compensation.
It is necessary to establish sector-specific standards for what constitutes "at work" for Platform Workers.
The benefits of the current WICA regime must be preserved, including the ability to obtain work injury compensation insurance on the free and vibrant insurance market that now exists.
The modifications will more closely align Platform Workers' fundamental protection with that of workers in other industries, who are currently covered by the WICA and are required to contribute to the Central Provident Fund.
Platform workers' insurance will now be required to cover the same three categories under WICA, although their current coverage is unequal among platforms and largely dependent on the platform company's reputation. The three categories are: medical costs, lost income, and lump sum payment for death or permanent disability.
Response from general insurers
According to Business Times, the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) has expressed concern about the proposals to provide Platform Workers, such as ride-hailing drivers and on-demand delivery personnel, with employee-like insurance coverage based on WICA.
Instead, the industry body suggests making some changes to the insurance policies already available to this set of workers.
A WICA-based solution has numerous benefits, as the advisory group has noted, but it also has drawbacks, according to GIA CEO Ho Kai Weng. "While a worker on a platform may find it simple to quantify his income, a worker on a fixed wage may find it easier to prove his income loss over many months and for many of them across multiple platforms," he said.
