Information notification, rules negotiation, social security "cover the bottom"——
There are new rules for protecting the rights and interests of online car-hailing drivers
After the order is completed, the driver can tap the screen to obtain real-time information on the online car-hailing platform's commission; when problems are encountered at work, the labor unions at all levels will "build a bridge", and the driver and the platform can start an effective and equal consultation dialogue... these ideas, It will become a reality in the near future.
In order to promote the standardized, healthy, sustainable and high-quality development of new transportation formats, and focus on solving the rights and interests protection issues that are most concerned by practitioners of new transportation formats, the Ministry of Transportation and the Central Propaganda Department have recently issued the "Regarding Strengthening the Practice of New Transportation Formats" Opinions on the Protection of Personnel Rights and Interests (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions).
What pain points does the "Opinions" strive to solve in the online car-hailing industry?
How to further enhance the professional happiness of online car-hailing practitioners in the future?
Fully transparent rule-making and multi-negotiation
"We don't see how much the platform will earn. Anyway, I just "run" on the road for ten or so hours a day." This year is the fourth year that Master Liu came to Beijing as an online ride-hailing driver.
In the evening, Master Liu accepted orders from the online car-hailing platform at the driver's side as usual.
For a long time, he could only see his own income. As for how much passengers paid and the specific amount of each platform, Master Liu did not know.
In terms of the percentage setting, online car-hailing platforms often have a greater say than online car-hailing drivers.
Lawyer Huang Yan from Beijing Jingshi (Shanghai) Law Firm said: “There are already cases of rights protection in practice. Some non-standard online ride-hailing platforms arbitrarily adjust prices and increase the percentage of fees. This kind of right to speak is seriously unequal. Cause a complaint from the driver."
According to data from the Ministry of Transport, online car-hailing covers more than 300 cities across the country, with an average daily order volume of about 20 million.
As of November 30, 2021, a total of 3.86 million online car-hailing driver licenses have been issued.
However, the right to know and the right to supervise online ride-hailing drivers have not been better protected with the expansion of the industry.
In response to the above situation, the "Opinions" pointed out that relevant departments in various regions should urge online car-hailing platform companies to announce pricing rules and income distribution rules to drivers and passengers and other related parties. After each order is completed, the order should be listed on the driver's side at the same time. The total amount paid by the passengers, the driver’s labor remuneration, and the ratio of the total amount paid by the passenger minus the driver’s labor remuneration to the total amount paid by the passenger (commonly known as "raise").
This regulation aims to improve the profit distribution mechanism between the platform and the practitioners, so that thousands of "Master Liu" can be more aware of how much money they have made.
The protection of the right to know about the quota and billing rules is only the beginning of the protection of the rights and interests of practitioners.
From the perspective of the healthy development of the online car-hailing industry, only by allowing drivers to truly participate in the formulation of rules on an equal footing can they give full play to their autonomous initiative and realize the optimization of the industry’s rules.
"One of the highlights of the "Opinions" is to emphasize that the operating strategy of the online car-hailing platform has been changed from unilaterally formulated by the original platform to negotiated." said Wu Qingjun, a professor at the School of Labor and Human Resources of Renmin University of China and a researcher at the Capital Institute of Development and Strategy. When it comes to the distribution of platform benefits and labor compensation and labor intensity that involve the vital interests of workers, it is emphasized that trade union organizations and industry associations should negotiate with platform companies and explore the establishment of an equal negotiation mechanism between workers and platform companies.
Consultation on an equal footing requires smooth channels of dialogue.
In Huang Yan’s view, trade unions at all levels should play a key role as a bridge: “First, trade unions represent drivers at the source to negotiate with online car-hailing platforms and participate in the design of related rights and interests system; When it is damaged, it can also play a role in safeguarding rights and assisting in difficulties."
Since July this year, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the State Administration of Market Supervision and other departments have intensively issued guidance on safeguarding the labor rights and interests of new employment forms such as couriers, food delivery workers, and online car drivers. opinion.
On the basis of continuing the inclusive and cautious attitude towards new business formats, the government is stepping up its efforts to fill in the shortcomings of various systems for the protection of workers' rights and interests.
"This fully demonstrates our government's determination and attitude towards the protection of labor rights and interests of workers in new formats while actively promoting the healthy and high-quality development of new formats." Wu Qingjun said.
Improve the social security system to ensure labor safety
On online car-hailing platforms such as Shenzhou Special Cars and Sunshine Travel, the employment relationship between drivers and platforms is divided into two types: one is a full-time driver who signs a labor contract with the platform company and pays social insurance on time; the other is a full-time driver who just signs an agreement with the platform Flexible employment earning income.
This part of the online car-hailing driver group who employs labor in the form of an agreement is not clear about the labor security issues during the online period.
“I’m basically online all day long, but I haven’t met with the platform, let alone paid social security. I mainly rely on my own attention when driving.” Master Liu’s lumbar spondylopathy became more and more serious when working in the same posture for a long time.
There are many drivers who do not have social insurance. In the future, how to specifically support employees in different working situations to participate in social insurance and do a good job of "covering the bottom" for drivers is a problem that needs to be resolved quickly.
The "Opinions" specify that online car-hailing platform companies should be urged to participate in social insurance for online car-hailing drivers who are in compliance with the labor relationship in accordance with the law, and to guide and support online car-hailing drivers who are not fully in compliance with the established labor relationship to participate in corresponding social insurance.
In an interview with reporters, Shenzhou Special Car General Manager Zeng Qing said that the company has always encouraged non-labor-related drivers to participate in insurance. In the future, it will guide flexibly employed online car-hailing drivers to participate in corresponding social insurance in accordance with the policies of various places.
"The attention and protection of rights and interests of these groups that are huge and incompatible with labor relations are precisely the purpose of the "Opinions"." Huang Yan believes that this policy will help establish and improve the social security system for workers in new forms of employment. Complete.
In addition to paying social security, the occupational injury risk of online car-hailing drivers is also an issue that cannot be ignored.
In response to this issue, the "Opinions" emphasized that the occupational injury protection of online car-hailing drivers should be strengthened, and online car-hailing platform companies are encouraged to actively participate in occupational injury protection pilots, so as to provide protection for the labor safety of online car-hailing drivers during the online service period.
Existing work-related injury insurance and work-related injury compensation are established under the institutional framework of labor relations, and the publication of the "Opinions" is expected to provide directions for future institutional innovations.
“In the future, it is possible to list the work-related injury insurance claims of this part of the employment group separately, which means that although there is no labor contract between the driver and the platform, the corresponding compensation can be obtained through the occupational injury protection channel established by the government for flexible employees. "Huang Yan said.
In addition to paying attention to the physical safety of online ride-hailing drivers, starting from the subtleties to improve the professional well-being of drivers is the proper meaning of promoting the high-quality development of the industry.
For example, the Ministry of Transport and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions jointly launched the "2021 Most Beautiful Taxi Drivers" promotion campaign to discover and select the most beautiful around; the Shenzhou special car team took to the streets to give out New Year red envelopes to drivers who stick to the front line.
These measures can effectively enhance employees' sense of professional honor and sense of belonging in the industry.
"For online ride-hailing platforms, drivers are the greatest wealth." Zeng celebrated.
All parties form a joint force to promote healthy development
“It is difficult to find a place to park in big cities, and it is difficult to eat on time after driving an order.” Some drivers reported that online car-hailing drivers generally face problems such as “difficulties in eating, parking, and toileting”.
How can the dividends of the "Opinions" quickly reach the group of online car-hailing drivers?
It is also necessary to start with the "nervous endings" of the society to solve the key problem of "difficulties and sorrows" for drivers.
Fortunately, these phenomena are being paid attention to by more and more people, and they are gathering a trickle of "warm current."
For example, the Balizhuang Street Federation of Trade Unions, Chaoyang District, Beijing, has previously integrated resources in its jurisdiction to create a temporary “foothold” for workers in new formats. Workers in new businesses, including online ride-hailing drivers and couriers, provide services such as drinking water, rest, and emergency medical treatment.
Such measures can be regarded as useful attempts.
To make the beautiful vision in the "Opinions" a reality, it is necessary to consolidate the main responsibilities of all parties and form a joint force to promote the healthy development of the industry.
"At present, when most online car-hailing drivers have not signed labor contracts with platform companies, it is necessary to fully protect the rights and interests of drivers and further strengthen the coordinated supervision of various departments." Wu Qingjun believes that the Department of Coordination and Supervision of the New Transportation Business should be fully utilized. The role of the international joint conference mechanism to coordinate and solve various problems encountered in the protection of the rights and interests of employees in the new transportation industry in a timely manner.
The "Opinions" set a clear timeline for the establishment of this mechanism, and proposed that a multi-departmental coordinated supervision joint meeting mechanism should be established or improved at the provincial and municipal levels before the end of 2021.
This regulation further emphasizes the key role that government supervision should play in protecting the rights and interests of workers.
Huang Yan agreed.
She said that the government should also strengthen the supervision of the platform, speed up the process of online car-hailing compliance, and prevent legally compliant drivers from "losing a loss" and restricting platforms from using their dominant position to conduct arbitrary price adjustments.
In addition to "heteronomy", enterprises still need to "self-discipline."
As the main body of labor, how can enterprises further protect the rights and interests of workers?
Zeng Qing said that the introduction of the policy is just the right time for Shenzhou Special Vehicles, and the standardized system construction can also enable the platform to continue to develop healthily.
"Some of the requirements mentioned in the "Opinions" are higher than our current implementation standards, such as the real-time display of the percentage ratio on the driver's side. In response to such problems, we will increase the priority of related matters on the basis of learning policies. Speed up the product development process."
"Guaranteeing the rights and interests of employees is an important measure to implement the concept of people first. It is of great significance for stimulating the initiative and enthusiasm of employees for services, improving the quality of industry services, and promoting the healthy, sustainable and high-quality development of the platform economy. "The person in charge of the relevant department of the Ministry of Transport said.
Reporter: Gong Wenjing