Members of gig-worker associations injured on the job to get grocery vouchers

A NEW short-term relief scheme will give ride-hailing, taxi and freelance delivery workers S$250 worth of NTUC FairPrice vouchers if they get injured on the job – provided they have been members of the relevant worker association for at least three months.

The NTUC Care Fund (Work Injury Relief) scheme was launched on Wednesday (Dec 6) by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and three associations: the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA), National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) and National Taxi Association (NTA).

A total of S$120,000 has been committed for the initial tranche of the scheme, with the three associations contributing S$20,000 each, and the NTUC-U Care Fund matching those sums.

This means that the scheme can make about 480 disbursements. A second tranche may be added after a review in mid-2024.

Workers will need to have been a member of the NDCA, NPHVA, or NTA for at least three months to be eligible for the scheme. Membership costs S$117 annually.

NTUC declined to disclose the membership strength of each of these associations.

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To make a claim under the scheme, workers will need to have been prescribed medical or hospitalisation leave for their injury for a continuous period of five or more days. Applications open on Jan 15, 2024.

Asked why the fund disburses vouchers rather than cash, Jean See, director of the Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit in NTUC, said the aim is to help injured gig workers’ families as soon as possible with necessities, such as milk powder. The associations aim to disburse the vouchers within three days of application.

NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng said: “The amount, S$250, may not be much, but it can really help in the interim two weeks to sustain our members and their families.”

Ride-hailing driver Shanti Kaur Hari Singh Bajwa, who once sustained a hamstring injury on the job, described the scheme as a good start towards helping injured workers.

“I don’t know how long S$250 is going to last in Singapore – it’s not like it’s going to last for a month – but at least it can tide you over.”

NDCA president Goh Yong Wei knows first-hand about the financial strain when gig workers get injured. A delivery rider himself, he broke his arm in a motorbike accident in September 2020 and was out of work for almost half a year.

“I had zero income for a long period of time, and my savings were running out very fast,” he said.

“Every week, I had to spend almost S$500 on medical (bills), how long could I last? And to wait for the different insurance payouts takes time.”

Goh believes that the grocery vouchers can at least provide some initial relief for workers who find themselves in such situations.

The scheme’s launch comes ahead of planned legislative changes in Singapore that will expand basic protections for platform workers – which comprise ride-hailing, taxi and on-demand delivery workers serving apps such as Grab and foodpanda.

When the new rules kick in, platform operators will be required to insure the workers to the level that employees are covered for under the Work Injury Compensation Act.

The coverage will be based not just on earnings from a single platform, but all the platforms the worker serves in the sector.

As at November 2022, Singapore had an estimated 73,200 platform workers, comprising 30,600 private-hire car drivers, 16,700 delivery workers and 26,300 taxi drivers.