Make it a must for employers in gig economy to register with Socso, says rep

 

Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran says the number of accidents involving delivery riders highlights the need to regulate them.

PETALING JAYA: Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran has urged the government to make it mandatory for employers of gig economy workers to contribute to the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

Rajiv said delivery companies have been doing well during the pandemic and should bear the cost of protecting their employees, especially when their jobs are risky.

“During the MCO period between March 18 and Nov 18 last year, motorcycles contributed the highest number of vehicles involved in fatal accidents,” he said.

The 150 accidents and four deaths involving p-hailing (motorcycle parcel delivery) riders during the three-month period, he said, had highlighted the need to regulate them.

He pointed out that the government had made it compulsory for other employers to register their workers and contribute to Socso, including foreigners, “but seems to have forgotten” the 400,000 gig economy workers.

Rajiv hoped the human resources ministry could look into developing a better social protection mechanism for them.

“The basic duty of any employer is to ensure the safety of its employees. It is for this reason that Socso was established to provide social security protection to employees and their dependants in the event of injury, disability or death,” he said.

Previously, former human resources minister M Kulasegaran had said motorcycle-hailing riders would most probably need to contribute to Socso voluntarily since they were “freelancers”. - FMT