As more women gain more work flexibility and freedom with micro-jobs, the Government must ensure there are safety nets for them.
Labour Member of Parliament Yeo Wan Ling made this call in her Supplementary Supply Bill debate speech in Parliament on 14 October 2020.
Ms Yeo is also the NTUC director of U SME and the Women and Family Unit.
She added that she was heartened to hear Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announce his intention to set up an initiative to create micro-jobs in the heartlands with the help of Community Development Councils (CDC).
“Women need choices in their work arrangements, and I believe that micro-jobbing would be something very welcomed in our communities … As micro-jobs pick up in popularity and leave the safe protective hands of the CDC, and into the invisible hands of the free market, the house may need to consider some protective areas,” said Ms Yeo.
Ms Yeo suggested three areas that can help with protecting women who take on micro-jobs.
These include awareness and education, contractual safety nets, and dispute management and mediation.
On raising awareness and education, Ms Yeo said that there would be a need to educate both micro-jobbers and service buyers on their respective obligations.
“Perhaps all micro-jobs below a certain amount needs to be cash upfront payments as an informal industry standard. Such informal practices are set by strong first movers, and I look forward to the leadership by the CDCs,” she suggested.
On contractual safety nets, Ms Yeo called for the study of standards for issues such as payment and service waivers.
“Micro-jobs run into the danger of work agreements that are contracted with no overriding legal agreements set into place. This is especially so should the work be contracted with individuals as service buyers,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ms Yeo also called for the creation of “hassle-free escalation pathways” to protect both micro-jobbers and service buyers.
“Micro-jobs and other non-traditional career pathways can be viable livelihood choices for women seeking to balance work with home. These choices should not be seen to be second-best options.
“Through implementing strong protective safety nets, we can remodel these choices into strong first choices that merely look different. We need to ensure that no one falls through the cracks so that we can build for our women to reach for the stars,” she concluded.
