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Limited seats available, first come first served. Let us join together for a sustainable appointment! [Click to register] (Source: Qianlong Net) Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released the "Measures for the Protection of Rights and Interests of Workers in New Employment Forms (Draft for Comments)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft for Comments"), aimed at better protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers in new employment forms such as food delivery riders and ride-hailing drivers, clarifying the rights and obligations of platform enterprises, platform employment cooperation enterprises, and workers in new employment forms, and promoting the healthy development of new employment forms.
As the primary entities that absorb and manage workers in new employment forms, how can platform enterprises further improve the protection of these workers' rights and interests? Reporters interviewed several leading platform enterprises with large employment volumes.
To protect the basic rights of workers in new employment forms regarding payment of remuneration and rest, the Draft for Comments proposes clear requirements such as "enterprises shall pay labor remuneration to workers in new employment forms on time and in full" and "for those who work continuously for 4 hours, appropriate rest time shall be ensured for workers."
A relevant person in charge of rider protection at Meituan (HK: 03690) (MEITUAN-W) stated that Meituan stably and regularly provides on-time and full labor remuneration to more than one million riders each month, and urges platform employment cooperation enterprises to improve their compliance and operational standards. At the same time, Meituan continuously improves the transparency rules for cooperation enterprises, rider income, and order pricing, displaying the total income and detailed breakdown including order delivery fees, subsidies, rewards, and customer tips in the rider APP, and comprehensively considering factors such as delivery distance, delivery time, product weight, stairs, and special weather conditions in order pricing, and increasing corresponding subsidies for orders with large weight, large volume, and higher delivery difficulty.
In terms of rest protection, in April of this year, Meituan improved workers' rest rights based on suggestions raised by riders, launched an anti-fatigue mechanism, and established a protection system with 4-hour reminders, 8-hour pop-up notifications, and 12-hour mandatory offline.
"The series of institutional developments proposed in the Draft for Comments have clarified the boundaries and provided a basis for platform enterprises' employment responsibilities. Meituan will follow the relevant requirements, carefully listen to opinions from all parties, continuously improve labor remuneration, rest protection, social security, algorithm governance, consultation and appeal mechanisms, and work together with relevant departments, cooperation enterprises, and the vast number of riders to ensure that the rights and interests protection measures for workers in new employment forms are implemented effectively," said the relevant person in charge of rider protection at Meituan.
Platform enterprises often use algorithms to dispatch, supervise, evaluate, and motivate workers in new employment forms. Regarding concerns about being "trapped in algorithms," the Draft for Comments proposes that "enterprises shall adhere to the value orientation of people-oriented, fairness and justice, and safety and controllability when formulating algorithms, and fully listen to and adopt opinions from stakeholders."
In terms of algorithm governance, starting from July of this year, Taobao Flash Purchase launched a "no timing while waiting at red lights" mechanism in some cities. The time riders spend waiting at red lights is no longer included in assessments, and the system will automatically extend the delivery time limit. Currently, this mechanism has covered more than 10 cities including Beijing, Fuzhou in Fujian, Nanjing in Jiangsu, and Hangzhou in Zhejiang.
To effectively absorb riders' opinions and suggestions, Taobao Flash Purchase launched a "rider rights symposium" mechanism, established a nationwide rider consultation representative system, and regularly holds regional consultation symposia and network-wide consultation symposia to ensure that riders have a voice and can participate in the formulation of rules such as algorithm governance.
"We will follow the requirements of this Draft for Comments, continue to optimize the algorithm system, improve labor rules, strengthen communication and collaboration with all parties, and strive to let riders work with peace of mind and labor with dignity, achieving mutual promotion and win-win results between platform enterprise development and worker rights protection," said a relevant person in charge of Taobao Flash Purchase.
Food delivery riders and ride-hailing drivers are on the road for long periods, and occupational injury protection is a concern for many workers. The Draft for Comments proposes that "platform enterprises shall participate in occupational injury protection for new employment form personnel in accordance with regulations." A relevant person in charge of Didi introduced that the company actively implements the requirements of relevant departments to expand the pilot program for occupational injury protection nationwide, reducing the worries of more drivers, and handling well matters concerning the vital interests of workers in new employment forms.
Workers in new employment forms also enjoy the right to participate in vocational training. The Draft for Comments proposes to "promote the improvement of workers' skills and broaden career development space." Reporters learned from JD.com (NASDAQ: JD): JD is building a more complete vocational training and growth system, for example, jointly launching modern rider academies and domestic service academies with relevant departments in Guangdong, Sichuan, and other places, exploring new paths for skill transfer and career advancement, and broadening career development space for workers in new employment forms.
A relevant person in charge of JD Miao Song stated that JD will carefully study the various provisions of the Draft for Comments, consolidate the employment responsibilities of platform enterprises and partners, effectively safeguard workers' rights and interests, and strive to make frontline employees more respected, more protected, and more hopeful.