On 28 October 2024, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the proposed “Gig Workers’ Economy Bill” will be tabled in Parliament
1 in December 2024 after the 2025 Malaysian Budget is passed.
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According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the main elements of the Bill will be the safety net for gig workers, which includes not only protection in the form of employees’ provident fund contribution, but also 24-hour social security protection under the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969.
Datuk Seri Zahid also said, “
I have requested that medical costs for gig workers be covered even though this may have high financial implication.” He added that “
all of this will be included in the Bill after discussions have been made with universities, especially University Malaya, which has provided consultation on the proposed Act.”
In May 2024, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim had announced that the Gig Workers Commission Bill will be tabled in July 2024. This followed on from his earlier announcement at the 2024 Bumiputera Economic Congress from 29 February to 2 March 2024 that a Gig Workers Commission will be established to prioritise social protection, resolve contract disputes and promote career advancement of gig workers in Malaysia.
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It will be interesting to see the proposals that will be introduced in the upcoming Bill to provide greater protection for gig workers in Malaysia. As gig workers themselves enjoy the flexibility of determining the hours that they are prepared to work, it will be a tricky exercise for the Government to strike a balance between the competing needs of the gig workers and the businesses, and come up with an equitable basis for determining how much of the costs for the new benefits are to be borne by the companies to whom gig workers provide their services.
Alert by Foo Siew Li (Partner) of the Employment Law Practice of Skrine.