The Ministry of Human Resources said it will ensure that the government’s policy requiring all self-employed individuals, including gig workers, to contribute to the Self-Employed Social Security Scheme (SKSPS), can be implemented in the near future.
Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar said to ensure insurance coverage for all sectors including the gig economy sector, the Social Security Organisation (Socso) faces various challenges, among the lack of specific policy or legislation to safeguard the welfare of gig economy workers.
Gig economy workers are not protected under the Work Act 1955, Labour Ordinance and Labour Ordinance and do not get the benefit of the minimum wage in addition to their inconsistent and temporary income.
He was responding to a supplementary question on the government’s commitment to work and put in place a clear policy or act to defend the fate of economic gig workers.
Sivakumar said that based on statistics (Socso) from January to December 2022, a total of 374,906 self-employed individuals in the country have had SKSPS protection.
“Regarding saving for old age, the Ministry of Human Resources is studying the protection of gig workers in a specific legislation to protect the welfare of gig economy workers including those who are self-employed,” he said.
Of that number, 315,107 are active p-hailing riders and 59,799 are e-hailing workers.
“Various initiatives and programmes have been implemented as an encouragement for the informal sector workers including gig economy workers to register and contribute to Socso, among them, Socso has appointed a Corporate Agent to help encourage workers in the sector to contribute to SKSPS,” Sivakumar said.
