Work Injury Compensation Act could be first of several painful but crucial gig worker reforms
Higher premiums for worker protections could drive up costs for platform companies, but fair parameters can be set and consumer expectations managed
Sharanya Pillai
IT WILL soon be a year since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong raised concerns about basic job protections for gig economy workers at the 2021 National Day Rally.
Since then, an advisory committee has been studying how to better protect these “platform workers”, who include cabbies, ride-hailing drivers and delivery persons who work for online platforms. There are 3 areas of focus: retirement and housing adequacy, bargaining power and financial protection in case of work injuries.
The committee’s work is still ongoing, but there has been an indication of at least one big change that could come. Last month, Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon said that the committee is looking at whether the Work Injury Compensation Act (Wica) could be applied to platform workers.
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