On 14 August 2023, the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM“) launched a public consultation from 14 August 2023 to 4 September 2023 inviting feedback on the proposed definitions of Platform Operators and Platform Workers, the treatment of a subcontracting scenario, and Platform Operators’ safety and health duties to Platform Workers (“Consultation Paper“).
The public consultation follows the Government’s acceptance of all 12 recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers (“Advisory Committee“) in its report titled “Strengthening Protections for Platform Workers” (“Report“). For more information, please see our article titled “Government Accepts 12 Recommendations to Strengthen Protections for Platform Workers” in our November 2022 NewsBytes here (page 17).
Following the public consultation, the Government intends to introduce new legislation to implement the Advisory Committee’s recommendations for Platform Workers. This is intended to commence in the second half of 2024.
In its Report, the Advisory Committee emphasised that clarity on the definition of “Platform Operator”, “Platform Worker” and “subcontracting Platform Operator” will assist with the implementation of the proposed recommendations. Further, the definitions must be sufficiently flexible so they remain relevant in light of the evolving platform ecosystem. Platform Operators who meet the definition will be required to provide the protections listed in the Advisory Committee’s Report and take reasonably practicable measures to ensure the safety and health of the Platform Workers that they contract with.
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