Timely to review representation of self-employed persons: Patrick Tay

IN a blog post on Tuesday, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) assistant secretary-general Patrick Tay said he will seek to review various legislations to better represent self-employed persons.

He believes it is timely to look at Singapore's legislation now to better represent the self-employed, especially as more people explore new ways of working in the Covid-19 landscape.

The labour MP made his point by citing the example of the UK court's decisions on the Uber case in the UK, and noting the similarities between the Uber app in the UK and other private-hire transportation apps in Singapore.

In the post, Mr Tay also detailed how the UK court had concluded on two fronts that Uber drivers were "workers" even though they were not employed under employment contracts - worker benefits, and the periods which the drivers worked for Uber.

With reference to the UK court case, he opined that "the labour landscape will have to change to adapt to these new ways of working through digital platforms".

He further promised that NTUC will continue to look for ways to better represent self-employed persons, starting with a call to review legislations or relevant laws.

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Mr Tay said he plans to raise the issue at the upcoming Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Manpower.