Deliveroo, a Hong Kong food delivery platform, recently withdrew from the city, promising 200 employed staff members would get severance pay above the legal minimum standard. However, nearly 10,000 delivery workers, regardless of tenure, will receive no compensation. The company stated that all delivery workers are classified as self-employed, which means labour laws do not apply to them, making them ineligible for even the most basic statutory severance pay.
The Delivery Workers’ Rights Concern Group highlighted that many delivery workers had been with Deliveroo for over two years, meeting the “continuous contract” requirement under Hong Kong’s Employment Ordinance, commonly known as the 418 rule. They should be entitled to severance pay, statutory holiday pay, and work injury compensation. This incident once again exposes the city’s 110,000 platform workers’ lack of labour protections, sparking calls for the Hong Kong government to pass legislation to address the issue.
Inconsistent Court Rulings: Why Are Platform Workers Treated Differently?
Because there are no clear legal definitions of platform workers’ employment status and rights, those who are exploited must rely on court decisions if mediation fails. However, in recent years, Hong Kong courts have issued contradictory judgments on platform workers’ employment status, further undermining labour rights.
Last year, six Zeek drivers filed claims for unpaid wages with the Labour Tribunal. The court found in their favour, determining that the drivers were employees due to the platform’s high control over their work.
In contrast, in a different case involving a Deliveroo delivery rider claiming compensation for a work injury, the District Court determined that the rider was self-employed and not entitled to injury compensation. The rider was even ordered to pay HK$280,000 in legal costs. These starkly varied rulings illustrate the grey areas that leave platform workers vulnerable.
Platform workers’ rights have been overlooked for years, despite constant calls for legislative reforms. The Hong Kong government has once promised to review, but it has been delaying action for more than three and a half years without providing a viable answer. Last November, during a Legislative Council debate on safeguarding platform workers, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun noted that platform companies’ contract terms with workers varied, making a “one-size-fits-all” classification impractical.
To address this, the government has been conducting a Thematic Household Survey through the Census and Statistics Department, as well as online surveys targeting platform workers, to develop policies suited to Hong Kong. The government plans to complete this work in the first quarter of this year and report its findings to the Legislative Council’s Manpower Panel. On March 24, the panel will formally discuss protections for digital platform workers.
International Experience: Reforms in the UK and Taiwan
Many countries around the world have begun to pass laws to protect and recognise platform workers as employees. In recent years, Europe, the U.S., and Singapore implemented legal measures to strengthen platform workers’ labour rights.
The UK government introduced the Employment Rights Bill last year, proposing a guaranteed hours system that allows zero-hour contract workers to transition into fixed-hour contracts. The bill also requires employers to give workers fair advance notice of shifts and compensates them if their shifts are cancelled or shortened at the last minute. The bill is expected to benefit around one million workers, 75% of whom are part-time employees, including platform workers. The legislation is expected to be finalised within this year.
In Taiwan, at least six cities have enacted laws to protect food delivery workers. Taipei and Kaohsiung, for example, introduced legislation in March 2020 and August 2024, respectively, requiring platform companies to provide work injury insurance, conduct training programs, and suspend delivery services during extreme weather conditions. In October last year, Taiwanese authorities also revealed plans to establish a standardised and transparent fare structure for motorcycle couriers.