Received 1573 orders, a total of 3696 yuan to pay the insurance fee, but only 10,000 yuan compensation. Recently, after Wang Can, the driver of a car-hailing platform, died in a traffic accident in Hunan, the family found that the platform had promised the maximum 1.20 million yuan of accidental death insurance, "shrinking" became 10,000 yuan.
According to data, the number of online contractors providing services through Internet platforms in our country is about 70 million; by 2020, this number is expected to exceed 100 million, of which about 20 million are full-time employees.
Wang Can’s experience is not an isolated case. Due to the characteristics of work, most online contract workers are on the road, and the possibility of accidental injuries such as car accidents is high. If an accident occurs, whether workers can enjoy work-related injury benefits and whether Internet platforms bear corresponding responsibilities have occurred from time to time in recent years.
The reporter learned in the interview that because the nature of the employment relationship of the Internet platform has not yet been determined, 70 million workers cannot be included in the existing labor security legal system. To this end, professionals suggest that a work injury insurance system that conforms to the actual work of the online contract workers should be established as soon as possible. Once the legislation is passed, relevant departments should join forces to strengthen the supervision of the payment of relevant insurance by platform enterprises. At the same time, the online contract workers should also strengthen their legal awareness and safeguard their own rights and interests in a timely manner.
Died on the way to receive the order, only 10,000 yuan compensation
After Wang Can’s death, his wife, Wang Ting, believed that the online ride-hailing platform should be held responsible for compensation for Wang Can’s accident at work. But a person in charge of the platform’s Hunan branch said that the driver and the platform were only in an intermediary service relationship and were not responsible for compensating Wang Can.
The so-called intermediary service refers to the intermediary reporting the opportunity to enter into a contract to the client or providing the intermediary service for entering into a contract. In this case, the platform believes that it is only an intermediary between Wang Can and consumers.
Who exactly is the online contract worker? The reporter found that on the one hand, the platform claims that it is only a medium, and on the other hand, the online contract worker only sees the order and does not know the boss. "It’s just a part-time job, not a regular employee, right?" The reporter randomly asked several online ride-hailing drivers and "errand running" service personnel, and the answer was almost the same.
"Whether full-time or part-time, there is a de facto labor relationship between the platform and the driver." Hu Qing, a lawyer at Hunan Wanhe United Law Firm, told reporters that according to the "Interim Measures for the Management of Online Booking Taxi Business Services", the online car-hailing platform company is a carrier, that is, an employer.
The platform stipulates that the driver will pay 2.35 yuan for each order. According to the accidental injury protection plan on the APP, the maximum compensation for accidental death is 1.20 million yuan. Wang Can completed a total of 1,573 orders before his death, and paid a total of 3,696 yuan, but when Wang Ting asked for the policy, she was told that only 10,000 yuan was compensated.
In this regard, Hu Qing believes that according to the calculation of 2.35 yuan per order, if it is used for commercial insurance, the amount is huge, and "the insurance premium will not be only 10,000 yuan." An insurance industry practitioner said that if you can’t come up with a policy with a clear period, number of people and the amount of insurance premium, it is difficult to rule out that the guarantee is just a disguised fee charged by the platform.
I don’t know how to buy work injury insurance
According to statistics from the Shanghai Public Security Traffic Police Corps, there were 76 road traffic accidents involving the food delivery industry in the first half of 2017 alone. Most internet platforms do not purchase social insurance for online contractors, a group that is more likely to suffer accidental injuries.
Gao Xiang, 31, has been a delivery rider in Beijing for almost three years. He can take orders and earns around 10,000 yuan a month. However, a small collision on the way to food delivery last month made Gao Xiang start to think about changing careers. Although it did not hurt his bones, Gao Xiang was personally exposed to high-risk and insecure pain points. When asked why he did not apply to the distribution network for reimbursement of medical expenses and maintenance costs, he said with a wry smile, "People said that there is no insurance, and we have neither the energy nor the courage to fight for it."
In our country, industrial injury insurance basically adopts the institutional model tied to labor relations, but because the work characteristics of online contract workers do not fully meet the identification standards of traditional labor relations, many enterprises have deliberately or unintentionally "ignored" this point.
At this year’s National Two Sessions, Lu Guoquan, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and director of the research office of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, said that many Internet platforms hire workers through third parties, and sign business contracts or cooperation contracts to cover up the identity of employers. "Platform employment provides opportunities for some enterprises to pursue light assets, not support people, and evade social responsibility."
In this regard, Internet platforms also have "grievances". Online contract workers have part-time and full-time jobs, and some online contract workers take orders on multiple platforms at the same time. According to the regulation that an employee can only have one social security, "even if the company is willing to pay for them, there is no applicable legal system and protection policy to connect with it," Hu Qing told reporters.
In addition, most online contract workers have weak legal awareness and do not read or even sign contracts when establishing relationships with platforms. Even those who have some understanding of labor rights and interests often fail to resolve disputes when the power balance between the two sides of the labor relationship is huge.
The protection gap needs to be filled, and work injury insurance should be socialized
In 2010, the revised "Regulations on Work Injury Insurance" expanded the scope of application to employees of public institutions, social groups, law firms and other organizations, which has shown a trend of socialization. Now, with the development of the economy and society, it is imperative to include flexible employees such as online contract workers in the scope of work injury insurance and avoid the recurrence of the "Wang Can incident".
"Improving legislation and filling the gaps in the field of labor law is the first step." Hu Qing said that without legal support, it is difficult to clarify the rights and obligations of workers and employers, and it is easy to cause disputes. Once legislation is passed, the labor department must coordinate with relevant functional areas of business and strengthen supervision.
In the construction industry with the same high incidence of work-related injuries, according to the mandatory regulations in the industry, group accident insurance must be purchased on a project-by-project basis. However, on the Internet platform where working hours, locations, and personnel are uncertain, how to set up appropriate protection insurance needs to be explored.
The reporter found that as early as 2006, Nantong, Jiangsu introduced a method for flexible employment personnel to participate in work-related injury insurance; Taicang, Jiangsu adopted an accident insurance protection system, and the fund operated independently. Both cities have established the practice of applying for work-related injury identification by flexible employment itself, which provides a reference for the work-related injury identification of online contract workers.
According to Wang Xianyong, a professor at the School of Civil, Commercial and Economic Law of China University of Political Science and Law, online contract workers and other workers can enjoy social security rights and should be treated fairly. Some experts have called for online contract workers to strengthen their legal awareness, from "I want to participate in insurance" to "I want to participate in insurance", and then promote the institutionalization of social security for online contract workers.