NIBONG TEBAL – The Human Resources Ministry will be tabling a policy paper on establishing the Gig Workers Commission to the cabinet this month.
Minister Steven Sim said a report from a preliminary study on the proposed commission had been tabled in a cabinet meeting two months ago to obtain feedback on improving the framework and would be presented again in one or two weeks.
“After the tabling (of the preliminary report) last month, we return to the Human Resources Ministry to further enhance it, taking into consideration the input of cabinet members.
“This month, maybe in a week or two, we will present a policy paper on the improvements to provide protection to gig sector workers, especially in three main aspects, in terms of better wage compensation, security protection and a complaint mechanism.
“This is only at the initial stage so it is subject to the approval of the cabinet and (if approved at the cabinet level later) it may involve amendments or drafts of existing laws,” he told reporters at an event here, today.
Commenting further, Sim said gig workers were not included in the legal definition of workers, therefore any complaints could not be made to the Labour Department as they only took complaints from workers as defined under the Employment Act 1955.
In that regard, he said his ministry would reconsider the best definition to classify the group in the future.
“Based on the engagement sessions held, they do not want to be defined as conventional workers, so what is being done is that we will take the benchmarks of regional countries as well as the best practices around the world and detail the suitability for implementation in our country,” he said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim called for the setting up of the commission to be expedited to protect the rights of gig workers – who now number 1.12 million people, many of them youths.
Meanwhile, Steven said, as of June 21, a total of 648,657 individuals had contributed under the Self-Employment Social Security Scheme.
Of that number, 5,787 are e-hailing and p-hailing drivers in the northern region who are active contributors under the initiative sponsored by Grab Malaysia to more than 180,000 drivers and riders. – July 1, 2024