Singapore’s gig workers worry new benefits could mean lower pay

A landmark law for gig workers in Singapore would compensate them in case of injury, and give them greater retirement benefits. But food delivery rider Kan, who barely makes ends meet despite working for up to 16 hours a day, would rather just get paid more.

The Platform Workers Bill , which was passed in September, provides compensation for injury, improved housing and retirement benefits, and allows worker representation. It will benefit more than 70,000 delivery riders and ride-hailing drivers who work for companies such as Grab, Gojek, Deliveroo, and Foodpanda in Singapore.

Some of the costs of the new measures are expected to be passed on to consumers. For Kan, who asked to be identified by his last name as he was afraid of retaliation, the new law could mean lower earnings, he told Rest of World .

“From my experience, if you increase the cost of food delivery, orders will go down and then we will earn less,” the 49-year-old said. “I just want to be paid more.”

Gig workers worldwide have been pushing governments to enact laws to give them the same protections as those enjoyed by full-time employees, including health insurance and retirement benefits. The Singapore law, which takes effect from January 1, 2025, is the first such legislation in Southeast Asia. It sets an “important precedent,” Dianna Chang, senior lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, told Rest of World .

“With the platform economy and workers’ rights being debated in many countries … Singapore’s passage of the bill will create a ripple effect in the region,” she said.

Authorities in countries including Malaysia and the Philippines have said they are considering giving benefits to gig workers. Singapore’s Platform Workers Bill has been in the works since 2021, when then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he was “ especially concerned ” about gig workers, as it was harder for them to afford housing, health care, and retirement. An advisory committee was set up that year, and its recommendations for ensuring “adequate financial protection” in case of injury, improving workers’ housing, and retirement benefits were accepted a year later.

“Platform workers also deserve our care, to ensure fairness and equity,” Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon told Singapore’s Parliament in September while discussing the bill. He cited a 2022 study , which showed that up to a third of Singapore’s delivery workers had been in an accident that required medical care.

The proposed law will create a new category between employees and the self-employed, making Singapore among the first in the world to adopt this approach. The new categorization will also allow gig workers to have formal representation in a country that is not particularly known for workers’ unions.

One of the key provisions of the bill is increased contributions from  both workers and employers to the Central Provident Fund (CPF), a compulsory social security savings scheme, until they gradually match those of salaried employees. Employees contribute a fifth of their monthly salaries to their CPF accounts, while employers give 17%. Gig workers currently contribute up to 10.5% of their income to the health-care portion of their CPF, while platform operators do not contribute at all.

Under the new law, gig workers above the age of 30 years can opt out of the enhanced contributions, while the platforms will begin contributing at 3.5% of a worker’s net earnings. The government will fully cover the increase in worker CPF contributions for the first year of the law, gradually decreasing its share over subsequent years.

Koh told lawmakers that the higher costs incurred from the new law are “part and parcel” of running a business, and that consumers should also be prepared to pay more to offset the costs. “It is a leveling up of what platform operators ought to have been paying, if they are to ensure basic protections for platform workers, like what other employers have been doing for their employees all along,” he said.

However, the new legislation does not spell out who would bear the cost of the new measures: workers, consumers, or the platform operators. The law would add “significant costs” to the industry, a spokesperson for the Digital Platforms Industry Association (DPIA) , a lobby group comprising Grab, Deliveroo, and Foodpanda, told Rest of World .

“The full scale of the financial impact remains uncertain, as factors like the cost of work injury compensation insurance and the scale of CPF contributions remain unclear,” the spokesperson said. “Any price adjustments will ultimately be a decision for each platform operator to make.”

The median gross monthly income of full-time gig workers last year was 1,500 to 2,500 Singapore dollars ($1,162–$1,937), according to official data . That was unchanged from the previous year, even as the cost of living has increased. Delivery rider Kan estimated that he needs a take-home pay of 3,500 Singapore dollars just to cover his expenses. He is not looking forward to the enhanced CPF contribution. “After the CPF deduction, what is left?”

A part of the higher costs under the new law will “inevitably” be passed on to consumers, resulting in higher delivery and ride prices, said Chang. Consumers will likely pay extra for the convenience that they have become accustomed to, she said.

“The market and consumers will likely adapt to these price adjustments over time,” said Chang. “It’s fairer for platform operators and consumers to cover the costs, not the workers.”

Loke Kok Fai, who orders food delivery up to 10 times a week, does not mind paying a little extra, even though the onus of worker welfare must be on companies, he told Rest of World .

“I am generally willing to pay for better service, especially if it gives people more financial security,” the 36-year-old said. “These protections ought to have been a given, seeing that the workers are highly exposed to workplace hazards.”

For delivery rider Kan, the concern is welcome, but does not translate into a higher take-home pay. He said he had earned only 90 Singapore dollars ($70) after riding for 10 hours that day.

“I will rest for a while, then I need to go back to work,” he said. ▰

Nicholas Yong is a reporter based in Singapore.