A food delivery person of Chinese food-delivery and online services provider Ele.me Photo: IC

East China's Zhejiang Province launched protective measures on Wednesday ordering online platforms to ensure a 20-minute break for deliverymen who continuously work for more than four hours.

The protective measures include platform firms' guarantee of the physical and mental health of their employees who rely on Internet platform to work such as deliverymen, drivers and Internet marketers.

Besides setting break time for those who continuously work for more than four hours, the measures asked platform firms to prolong delivery time and limit the number of orders deliverymen can take in special circumstance such as bad weather to reduce the chances of accidents and occupational diseases.

Zhejiang has asked all platform firms to make or revise the algorithm rules concerning employees' wages, working time, rewards and punishments on the basis of suggestions from the labor unions or representatives under the supervision of government agencies and industrial institutions.

Employers are also required to provide employment injury insurance. 

Zhejiang launched the protective measures for labors relying on Internet platforms for employment, whose rights and interests are less guaranteed. Their vague labor relation with their employers makes it difficult for the current labor security regulations to put these workers under protection, Zhejiang Daily reported.

The deliverymen trapped in platform firms' algorithm system have sparked public attention and concerns over the rights of deliverymen since last year's September. 

As delivery platform giants including Ele.me and Meituan updated the algorithm system, shortening delivery time and raising efficiency, deliverymen are forced to break traffic rules and ride at dangerous speeds to squeeze time, causing enormous security risks and accidents to themselves and other people.

Global Times