Ian Lim quoted in The Straits Times: “Gig workers: CPF, injury risk expected to be in focus amid review”

On 15 September 2021, TSMP Law Corporation head of employment and labour Ian Lim was quoted in an article published by The Straits Times that looks at what’s expected in the upcoming MOM review on gig worker protections.

He commented that the issue of CPF contributions for gig workers “will need to be statutorily addressed”. Otherwise, Singapore may see a growing number of workers who enter their retirement years with little to no CPF savings.

Another major issue is work injury compensation, especially for delivery riders, with long hours on the road and significant pressure to deliver on time, he added. Unlike employees, such gig riders cannot claim compensation for work injuries under the Work Injury Compensation Act.

He said, the fact that taxi drivers are included in this review is also interesting. Given that they have long been considered self-employed contractors. It is possible that labour protections for cabbies are now getting renewed attention as the gig worker pool expands.

“Perhaps because this group has been around for so long, the lack of such protections for them became accepted as status quo and no one really looked too much into it, or maybe it wasn’t a large enough group to do something about previously. That should be changing now though,” he added.