PUBLISHED: 2 Does 2025 at 03: 30
According to a professor at Thammasat University, digital platform riders may be categorized as company employees under the social security law as opposed to a specific type of casual worker with constrained access to basic function benefits.
Asst. Prof. Kritsada Theerakosonphong, a professor at Thammasat University’s University of Social Administration and a member of a subcommittee on the development of the Social Security system under Section 40 of the Social Security Act, claimed yesterday that these users are incorrectly labeled as” semi-independent” staff, one of the two kinds of casual workers defined by the freelance labor costs.
An “independent contractor,” a term that describes those who do not have companies, such as farmers who own their terrain, street vendors, and motorbike taxi drivers, is another definition of a freelancer defined in the same review law, he said.
Even though they function as though they are company employees, he said, the concept of a software distribution horse in this document law would prevent them from receiving work benefits and force them to leave the official employment system.
These riders adhere to company regulations and don uniforms, he continued, while also facing risks at work, such as road accidents.
A labor network, which submitted an open letter to Labour Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn on April 18 to express its opposition to the bill, criticized the draft, according to Asst Prof. Kritsada.
He claims that the bill is currently awaiting cabinet approval because it has been in the works since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is a fundamental misclassification for semi-independent workers. They are not truly independent, he said, just look at the name.
” Riders are very vulnerable to road accidents. Companies don’t take any responsibility for them because they are labeled as independent contractors, he said.