Hong Kong to consider stronger laws to protect food delivery workers this year

Hong Kong authorities will propose to improve the rights and benefits of food delivery workers this year and consider legislative means to protect them better, following a string of recent labour disputes and protests.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han told lawmakers at a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday that authorities would reinforce protection of workers on food delivery apps and had set up a liaison group composed of representatives from the government, operators and labour groups to explore suitable measures.

Some lawmakers highlighted the need for greater scrutiny of such workers, noting that many of them operated illegally.

Sun revealed that the authority had studied the regulatory regime in mainland China, where the Supreme People’s Court had determined and defined the relationship between platform operators and workers based on work arrangements.

He added that based on the findings of two surveys conducted by the Labour Department last year, workers were “most concerned about work injury compensation”.

Lawmakers voiced concerns that the current protection of food delivery workers in the city lagged behind many regions, including mainland China and some Western countries.

In Hong Kong, food delivery workers have gathered to protest on several occasions in recent weeks.