KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Two gig workers who died in the 2023 Elmina plane crash had completely different fates. It hinged on whether they had continued contributing to Social Security Organisation (Socso) coverage.
Today, Malaysia’s new law will ensure all gig workers are protected, Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said.
Sim said these two gig workers happened to be on the highway near the Elmina township in Shah Alam when the plane crashed, and both did not survive the tragedy.
“Same accident. Same place. Same time. Two workers from the same gig sector yet two utterly divergent fates because of one crucial difference: social security protection,” he said in a speech at the World Social Security Forum 2025 here.
The first gig worker, a p-hailing driver, 32, had just renewed his Socso coverage two months before the plane crash, which meant his family now receives almost RM2,000 in monthly pension from Socso despite losing him as a breadwinner.
Sim said the second gig worker, a 53-year-old e-hailing driver with two school going children, had unfortunately discontinued his Socso contributions before the tragedy, which left his family without protection and facing financial uncertainty.
While the old system for Socso protection of gig workers depended on their voluntary enrolment, Sim said Malaysia last month made history when Parliament passed the landmark Gig Workers Act.
Under this new law, millions of gig workers in Malaysia now have compulsory and enhanced social protection.
“With the new Gig Workers Act, we have closed that gap. We not only guarantee safer and fairer conditions for them, but we can now be confident that such tragedies of exclusion will never be repeated,” he said.
Later, in a special plenary session titled “Shaping social security for the people’s future: The Madani approach in a changing world”, Sim said the new Malaysian law would not only improve working conditions for gig workers, but will also ensure they have a say when it comes to the amount they earn and that there would be more transparency in algorithms.
Pointing to the two workers’ differing fates in the Elmina plane crash incident, Sim said: “This new law not only compels, but it also shifts the liability of ensuring social security protection from workers in our old framework to the platform company, so now the platform company has the responsibility by law to ensure their workers are protected.”
He also said gig workers globally are "highly invisible because traditional employment or labour law does not cover them", and that there are just over a dozen countries with laws for gig workers.
"And I always say, what the law cannot see, it cannot protect. What the law doesn't define, it cannot defend," he said.
Sim said one of the reasons why the Malaysian government decided to introduce a law on gig work was because many gig workers operate in high-risk environments but receive no traditional labour protection — including social security.
Among other things, Sim said his ministry had collaborated with the Health Ministry last year to train over 12,000 occupational mental health first aiders, with the aim of having at least one such person at every workplace.
He noted the need to deal with mental health at the workplace, as the traditional concept of occupational safety and health (OSH) tends to revolve around physical injuries only.
He also spoke about how flexible working arrangements — which are part of Malaysia's employment law and not a mere policy — can help support mental health and wellness, and noted that the prime minister had, in the 2025 Budget, announced tax breaks to encourage companies to offer flexible working arrangements.
