HONG KONG (SE): “While enjoying more freedom, I have to accept unstable income,” said Boxen, a 25-year-old meal deliveryperson in a video interview conducted by the Catholic Commission of Labour Affairs. He is one of the interviewees of a feature, prepared by the commission, about the gig economy and non-standard forms of employment, uploaded to its Facebook page on July 25.
Boxen said he has been delivering food ordered through an online platform for five years. He likes the job as he has more freedom and can ride a motorbike while working.
He notes that there are both good and bad sides to this type of work. He works under a self-employment contract, where he is paid according to the number of deliveries made. Travel and transportation expenses are to be met by him, which means he must own a motorbike, and pay for the gasoline and food storage bags.
In case of injuries during work, he is not entitled to any compensation. While working hours are not specified, lunch and dinnertime are mostly busy hours. He also needs to pay parking fines, if any, out of his own pocket.
An average hourly wage of $50 is good income, but it is not guaranteed. There are times when he receives only a few orders for delivery. “But I cannot worry too much about it, instead I remind myself to prepare for this situation by saving money or having backup plans,” he said.
The gig economy is a labour market characterised by the prevalence of flexible, temporary, or freelance jobs. Clients and customers are usually connected through online platforms. Employees normally have irregular working hours, workplace and wages, and fewer benefits due to the ambiguous employment relationship.
However, the commission pointed out that some employers tend to custom-design contract terms to circumvent the requirements of employee benefits for continuous employment, such as by arranging flexible working hours every week.
The commission pointed out that this type of working arrangement can cause problems. Due to the lack of guidance or training, the occupational safety of the workers is sometimes ignored. Their mental health can even be affected due to the stress caused by the lack of work stability.
Workers may not qualify for social protections due to the low working hours, wages or the short-term status of employment.
Workers under this non-standard form of employment are also less likely to join unions to fight for their rights due to their irregular working hours and the absence of a legal employer in some cases.
Under the Labour Ordinance, an employee who has worked continuously under the same employer for four weeks or more, with at least 18 hours worked in each week, is regarded as being employed under a continuous contract. These workers are entitled to more benefits such as rest days, annual leave with pay and sickness allowance, and so on.
However, the commission pointed out that some employers tend to custom-design contract terms to circumvent the requirements of employee benefits for continuous employment, such as by arranging flexible working hours every week.
‘I am not telling people not to do such work. It is just that the employment conditions of the workers needs to be improved. The government need to intervene in this aspect to safeguard the rights of the workers’
Au Yeung Tat-chor
Mei Yi, who was interviewed by the commission, said she used to work as a hotel housekeeper due to its flexible working hours, which allowed her to take care of her two children. But her employer did not allow her to work more than three weeks a month to avoid having to classify her employment as a continuous one.
Au Yeung Tat-chor, a professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Policy of Lingnan University, said in another video interview that the labour ordinance in Hong Kong does not have many restrictions on employment relationships so it is easy to hire temporary workers under non-standard forms of employment to lower operating costs. It is easy to dismiss such workers as well.
He said that, in recent years, the number of non-standard forms of employment has increased because many digital labour platforms have emerged to connect users with the service provider who is self-employed. However, the problem is that these platforms do not fulfill the responsibility of employers. When more and more people have worked under such platforms, workers may face worse treatment, as they have no bargaining power. For example, the platforms can change the contract terms without the consent of the workers, which will cause labour disputes.
However, he believes that non-standard forms of employment has its advantages as it creates job opportunities for housewives, or physically or mentally disadvantaged people.
“I am not telling people not to do such work. It is just that the employment conditions of the workers needs to be improved. The government need to intervene in this aspect to safeguard the rights of the workers,” Au Yeung said.
The commission urged the government to enact legislation to protect workers under non-standard forms by, for example, regulating the minimum number of working hours, tackling false self-employment, stipulating the factors proving employee status and allowing non-standard forms of employment only under specific situations.
Father Louis Ha Ke-loon said that the situation of every individual is different and some are not suitable for stable work, so non-standard employment has a reason to exist. However, the problems of non-standard employment have become obvious with the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.
“The Church has two principles concerning work: justice and mercy. Justice in that everyone is entitled to remuneration and fair treatment. We also need a heart of mercy to generously share what we have and to treat suffering people with empathy.”
Father Ha encouraged Christians to voice out their views to help to fight for better rights of workers facing non-ideal systems.
