FAQ: What you need to know about Singapore’s proposed law to protect platform workers

SINGAPORE: Platform workers may soon have their Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions and work injury insurance coverage at the same levels as regular employees.
Tabled in parliament for a second reading on Monday (Sep 9), the Platform Workers Bill will strengthen protections for such workers in three areas.
They are: Increased CPF contributions by platform workers and operators; financial compensation for injuries sustained while working; and a legal framework for representation. 
If the Bill is passed, increased CPF contributions will be mandatory for platform workers born on or after Jan 1, 1995. Older workers may also opt in if they want to. 
Platform work associations will also represent workers in negotiations with operators. 
To start with, protections for platform workers only apply to those who provide ride-hailing and delivery services. 
Platform work is concentrated in these services today and such work is “precarious”, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a media release.
“Hence, there is an urgent need to ensure protections for these groups of platform workers,” it added.
But will the increased CPF contributions affect platform workers’ take-home salaries? And what happens if they are working for multiple operators? CNA breaks down some frequently asked questions. 
The CPF contribution rates will gradually increase over five years to help platform workers achieve the same level of housing and adequacy as employees who earn the same amount. 
With the CPF contributions from platform operators, workers will also see an overall increase in their total earnings.
The increased contributions are mandated for those born on or after Jan 1, 1995, as younger platform workers have a greater need for them because of housing needs and can benefit more from the compounding interest, said MOM.
No, they will not. For those who do not opt in, the operator will only deduct the required MediSave contributions from platform workers’ earnings and send it to the CPF Board every month. 
There is no deadline; older platform workers can opt in at any time. 
However, older workers are encouraged to opt in early so that they can benefit from the Platform Workers CPF Transition Support (PCTS) if they qualify. This scheme is aimed at easing the impact on workers’ take-home pay.
Platform workers who opt in on or before the 15th of a month will see the increased contributions starting from the next month. Otherwise, it will start a month later. 
For example, if a platform worker opts in on Apr 15, the increased contributions will start from May 1. If he or she opts in on Apr 16, then the increased contributions will start from Jun 1.
It would not be “practical” for platform operators to allow opt-outs, the Manpower Ministry said.
This is because companies would have to monitor the status of workers and track the different rates of CPF contribution that would apply when workers opt in and out multiple times.
“This may incur significant business costs for platform workers,” MOM added. 
Platform workers are thus encouraged to carefully consider their decision to opt in based on their personal circumstances. 
The opt-in portal will be accessible in advance before CPF contributions are implemented, giving platform workers ample time to decide. 
Lower-income platform workers who earn S$3,000 (US$2,300) or less per month – after the deduction of expenses, including income from platform work and other employment sources – will qualify for the updated PCTS scheme.
The government will offset 100 per cent of lower-income workers’ shares of CPF contributions in 2025. This means that there will be no decrease in their take-home pay in 2025. 
The offset percentage will be reduced gradually from 2026 and cease in 2029.
All platform workers who are eligible for the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme will receive WIS payments monthly instead of annually from 2025. This scheme tops up the salaries of lower-income workers to help them save for retirement.
Additionally, from 2029, platform workers whose CPF contributions are aligned with those of employees will receive higher WIS payments. The proportion of WIS in cash will also be higher. 
Since it will be mandatory for all platform workers born in 1995 or later to make the increased CPF contributions if the Bill is passed, this will eventually cover an increasing proportion of workers. 
Hence, it may be “more advantageous” for platform operators in the long term to treat workers fairly, regardless of whether they opt in or are subject to mandatory CPF contributions, MOM said.
Platform workers also have the option of switching between platform operators. Hence, it is “in the interest” of operators to treat all workers fairly so as to retain them, the ministry added. 
Moreover, now that platform work associations will be able to represent platform workers, they can work together with the operators to safeguard against discriminatory practices.
Additional guidelines will also be included in the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices to provide greater clarity that intermediaries such as platform operators should not discriminate based on characteristics that are not related to the job.
In this case, the liability for compensation will fall on one platform operator where possible to process the claims. This will be determined by a prioritisation of work stages by MOM.
There are mainly three work stages – waiting for jobs, pick-up and delivery. But platform workers are only eligible for compensation when participating in the latter two. 
For example, if a platform worker was delivering and picking up items for separate platform operators, only the operator he was delivering for would be liable. This is because the workers are committed to fulfilling the job once they are at the delivery work stage when the passenger or goods are with them. 
There may be cases where a worker was delivering for more than one operator. In such situations, the liability will then be divided and shared according to the workers’ earnings from those operators. 
Secondly, if the platform worker was injured while working in multiple platform sectors – such as ride-hailing and delivery – compensation will be based on his or her net earnings from the higher-earning sector. 
Scoping platform operators’ compensation liability to one platform service facilitates sustainable insurance premiums, said MOM.
Platform workers should inform the operator that he or she was working for as soon as possible after sustaining a work injury.
They should provide incident details such as time and location as well as information on the injury such as whether the accident resulted in hospitalisation, and the number of days of medical or hospitalisation leave.
The operator will then file an injury report to MOM and an insurer will process the claim. If multiple platform operators are liable for work injury compensation, a lead insurer will be appointed to process the claim. 
Platform workers may be contacted for further details and should cooperate with the insurer to facilitate the process. 
If he or she disagrees with the assessment of the claim, the platform worker may file an objection to MOM, with supporting evidence. The ministry will make a formal judgement on the dispute.
Workers will be notified of their claim case reference number and the insurer’s details. They can use their Singpass account to log in to MOM’s EmPOWER e-services to check the status of their claim.
The majority of these compensation claims will be resolved when the injury condition has stabilised and the insurer is able to assess the extent of the injury and that it was due to work.
This would usually be within one to two months of receiving all medical reports and legal documents, if any, and about six months to a year after the incident happens.
Platform workers and insurers can approach MOM for any undue delays. 
The nature of platform work is different from that of the typical relationship between employees and their employer.
This makes it challenging for trade unions to represent platform workers the way they do with employees, MOM said. 
For instance, the problems that platform workers face such as how tasks are allocated to them, or how their pay is computed could be different from employees, who have fixed salaries.
Some parts in the legal framework for employees would not be relevant to platform workers, such as the representation of executive employees.
Hence, the government set up a separate framework for platform workers to be represented, similar to that of employees but with certain aspects adapted to be more relevant to the platform sector.