KUALA LUMPUR: Gig economy workers' groups are urging the government to come up with policy guidelines which would provide similar protections accorded to formal workers as stated in the Employment Act.
While welcoming the move to draft a policy to defend the rights of the workers, the groups said that the welfare of the workers should be the utmost priority in the new guidelines.
Malaysian eHailing Alliances chief activist Jose Rizal proposed for p-hailing and e-hailing platform companies to contribute to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) of their riders and drivers.
He said that there was a need to place responsibility on the shoulders of the companies for their workers' welfare and security.
"The government can come up with guidelines on the contributions to be made by the companies according to the hours clocked by the gig workers. These workers spend hours on the road and they should be provided with such coverage.
"Besides, formal workers are entitled to other benefits, such as insurance. We need this for our gig workers as well," he said when contacted today.
He also said that the new policy followed by the Act should not be delayed any further as there were close to a million p-hailing and e-hailing workers in the country who have worked for years without proper security.
"The blueprint should be tailored to suit the culture and working environment in Malaysia," he added.
Grab Drivers Malaysia Association president Arif Asyraf Ali said that the Employment Act should be used as the basis to draft the new policy for the gig workers.
He said that with the lack of an Act or at guidelines gig workers would risk facing action, including suspension of their accounts by the respective companies, whenever a complaint was lodged against them.
This was in contrast to formal workers where there is a proper flow of actions to be taken including inquiries, warning notices and eventually the suspension or dismissal of the workers.
"There are cases where passengers report missing items after they were dropped off at their destinations. Once the report is made, the customer care will try to reach out to the driver, and if they do not respond, their accounts would be immediately suspended.
"I believe this is unfair. They must provide an avenue for the drivers to explain or conduct an investigation before they are suspended from work.
"If proper legislation is in place, then the companies cannot do as they please," he said.
He said that the guidelines were not solely to protect the workers, but also the companies themselves in case they face legal action.
He said that the government should expedite the process to protect and preserve the gig economy industry.
It was reported that the Human Resources Ministry was drafting a policy for gig economy workers involved in p-hailing and e-hailing food delivery services as a guideline before coming up with a special Act to safeguard the rights of the group, especially in terms of income and social security.
Its minister, V Sivakumar said gig economy workers, who are self-employed at this point, do not have any specific laws that give them full protection.
He said in Malaysia and in other countries there was no act or law to regulate gig economy workers since not everyone in the group agrees for the sector to be controlled by any particular party.