Gig workers in Singapore to benefit from national savings scheme

While not recognised as employees, ride-hailing and on-demand delivery platform workers in Singapore are set to receive the same levels of work injury insurance and contributions to the country’s CPF savings and pension scheme.

The government has accepted a set of recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers, which has spent the past year reviewing how Singapore should better protect ride-hailing and on-demand delivery workers.

Under the recommendations, both platform workers and companies will need to make Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions at the same rate as employees and employers, as long as the worker is aged below 30 in the first year of implementation. Those aged 30 and above that year can choose to opt in to the full CPF regime.

Singapore will ease the process by gradually increasing the CPF contribution rates over five years, until they hit the prevailing rates, which are currently at 20% of wages for workers and 17% for companies.

READ: Labour union calls for stronger support for Singapore’s gig workers

In addition, platform companies will be required to insure the workers to the same level that employees are covered under the Work Injury Compensation Act (Wica). The coverage will be based not just on earnings from a single platform, but all the platforms the worker serves in the sector. 

The changes will affect Singapore’s 73,200-strong pool of platform workers, comprising 30,600 private-hire car (PHC) drivers, 16,700 delivery workers and 26,300 taxi drivers. However, the latter’s street-hail jobs will be excluded from the measures.