BEIJING: Major on-demand service platforms in China have been taking gradual steps to provide social insurance coverage for delivery workers.
JD, a Chinese e-commerce platform that launched its takeout delivery service in February, now provides social insurance for its more than 10,000 full-time delivery workers in the sector. “The platform offers social insurance to me,” said Wang Chenguo, a JD full-time takeout delivery worker in Beijing who joined the platform a month ago. “I was informed of the social insurance policy when I signed the contract with JD, and I felt good about that.”
On April 3, Meituan, one of China’s leading on-demand service platforms, launched pilot pension insurance programs for its delivery workers in Quanzhou, Fujian province, and Nantong, Jiangsu province. The initiative covers approximately 22,000 eligible delivery riders in those regions. Delivery workers often have flexible working schedules and locations, as well as varied employment relationships. Some have exclusive and long-term employment relations with platforms, while others work part-time across multiple platforms. These characteristics have made it difficult for companies to include delivery workers under the current social insurance framework. Last year, China had around 15 million delivery workers, a 15.38 percent increase from the previous year, according to the blue-collar employment survey report by the research center of new forms of employment.
To protect laborers, China’s social insurance system includes five major components: pension, as well as medical, unemployment, occupational injury and maternity insurances. Premiums are usually shared between employers and employees. At the end of February, JD announced that it would begin covering full social insurance plus a housing provident fund for all full-time takeout delivery workers starting March 1, becoming the first platform to take this step. The company has also been providing similar coverage for its express delivery personnel. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
