Make up for shortcomings and strengthen norms – multi-departments speed up the ＂umbrella company＂ for workers in new formats

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 5?Topic: Making up for shortcomings and strengthening norms – multi-departments accelerate the support of "umbrella companies" for new business workers

Xinhua News Agency reporters Jiang Lin and Liu Weiwei

During the May Day holiday, Qi Jianzhong, a Meituan delivery rider in Nanjing, was both busy and down-to-earth. "With occupational injury protection, I feel much more at ease. Otherwise, I really don’t know who to call if I get injured."

In December 2023, Qi Jianzhong accidentally fell and broke his bone while delivering food. With the help of Meituan staff, he used his mobile phone to declare occupational injury protection, and about 1,000 yuan of medical expenses were reimbursed 875 yuan. After the disability identification, at the end of January 2024, he received a one-time disability subsidy of 41,900 yuan issued by the human resources and social security department.

Qi Jianzhong told reporters that he has been a rider for six years, and his income is good and his time is flexible. But bumps are inevitable in the rush, especially in bad weather, and his family always worries. "Occupational injury protection is like adding a layer of’protective net ‘, so after four months of recuperation and recovery, I came back to deliver food."

The occupational injury insurance that Qi Jianzhong said is a new type of work-related injury insurance created by the state for workers in new employment forms. The platform enterprise pays the fee, and the individual employed person does not pay the fee. The scope and circumstances of its protection, the standard and level of treatment, are basically consistent with work-related injury insurance.

Since July 2022, the new employment form of occupational injury protection for employed persons has been piloted in 7 platform enterprises including Meituan, Ele.me, Flash, Lalamove, and Cao Cao Travel in 7 provinces and cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong. As of the end of March 2024, 8.017 million people have been included in the scope of protection.

"Occupational injury protection effectively protects the rights and interests of employees in the new employment form, especially the basic living standards guarantee function of major casualty accidents. This system also disperses the business risks of platform enterprises and helps the platform economy develop in a standardized and healthy way," said Zheng Xuanbo, director of the work injury insurance department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Zheng Xuanbo introduced that how to participate in social insurance for the emerging group of new employment forms, the pilot has solved the problem and accumulated valuable experience. The next step will be to summarize experience and study to expand the scope of implementation.

The reporter noticed that on the website of the national social insurance public service platform, a special occupational injury protection service section has been set up, which shows that the insurance information, treatment payment application acceptance, occupational injury confirmation, treatment distribution, processing progress and other inquiry services are being practiced run.

Including delivery riders, instant delivery staff, online car drivers, such as the new employment form of workers, there are 84 million people.

"In response to the shortcomings such as high occupational risks, high labor intensity and low level of security faced by this group, in recent years, we have worked with relevant departments to continuously improve the system and mechanism, innovate work methods, strengthen service security, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of workers in new employment forms," said Li Xinwang, director of the labor relations department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

From the eight departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Safeguarding the Labor Protection Rights and Interests of Workers in New Employment Forms", to the introduction of special project rights protection policies for key groups such as takeout workers and online car-hailing drivers, and the reasonable definition of labor protection responsibilities of enterprises, to the February 2024 issue of "Guidelines for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Workers in New Employment Forms of Rest and Labor Remuneration", "Guidelines for the Publicity of Labor Rules for Workers in New Employment Forms" and "Guidelines for the Protection of Workers’ Rights and Interests of Workers in New Employment Forms"… Relevant departments have accelerated the support of "umbrella companies" for workers in new

"We guide platform companies and their employment partners to sign employment contracts and written agreements with workers, reasonably determine labor compensation, scientifically arrange working hours, formulate and revise platform labor rules such as order distribution and compensation payment in accordance with laws and regulations, and establish an internal labor dispute resolution mechanism," Li Xinwang said.

In response to the outstanding problems faced by workers in the new employment form of "overtime work", the relevant guidelines have made specific and detailed guidance for enterprises to scientifically determine the workload and labor intensity, and at the same time include workers in the new employment form into the minimum wage guarantee. In terms of optimizing insurance participation services, except for some megacities, all localities have opened the channels for flexible employment personnel to participate in employee pension insurance at the place of employment.

What should I do if there is a dispute between workers and platforms over compensation, and how can I protect my rights?

By strengthening the linkage with people’s mediation and judicial mediation, relevant departments have launched one-stop joint mediation services for labor disputes in new employment forms such as labor compensation, rest time, and occupational injury. At the same time, they have continuously improved the construction of online mediation platforms, optimized the mediation process and time limit, and helped both parties reach a mediation agreement voluntarily on the basis of mutual understanding and accommodation.

"The parties can also apply for arbitration review or judicial confirmation of the mediation agreement, and after review or confirmation, they can apply for the court to enforce it. At present, there are nearly 1,000 such mediation organizations across the country, and we will continue to promote it," Li Xinwang said.