KUALA LUMPUR: A new employment law to protect gig economy workers in Malaysia will be built on four main pillars, said Human Resources Minister Steven Sim.
The four pillars, Sim said are the definition of a gig worker or a platform worker; minimum compensation in the form of earnings for p-hailing and e-hailing workers; grievance mechanism; and, social security protection especially in terms of social insurance and pension.
He said the government aims to table the bill in Parliament by the end of this year.
"The ministry has just completed a bill drafting workshop this month and an early framework of the proposed act has been produced.
"In the coming months, the ministry will conduct further stakeholders consultation with other ministries, agencies, representatives from workers union and gig workers associations, representatives from employers and platform operators, and other interest groups on the new bill," he said in his speech at the International Social Security Association (ISSA) Technical Seminar 2024.
The event was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Present were Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Mohamad and ISSA president Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed, who is also the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) group chief executive officer.
Sim, in March, had said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tasked his ministry to create a new Gig Workers Law for the better protection of gig workers.
Sim acknowledged that there are still gaps, however, the bill represents Malaysia's first wholistic effort to ensure decent work and protection for gig workers which made up about 1.1 million out of the 3 million self-employed in this country.
"I hope that as countries like Malaysia aim to update our labour legislations concerning 21st-century economy, global organisation such as ISSA can play a role in not only providing guides and ideas, sharing practices to help us shape our own legislations and policies.
"We must also work together to ensure fair competition in the global gig economy so that no country especially smaller ones has to sell cheap, compromise on labour standards and jeopardise workers' welfare."