Specific policies are needed to protect freelance workers.

HNN - More than 30 years ago, due to difficult circumstances, my father, a mid-level forestry officer working for a forestry farm in Quang Binh (now Quang Tri province), had to quit his job and return to his hometown to make a living. Since then, he has become a freelance worker. The term freelance worker, or colloquially known as “handyman”, has come to my family with many hardships, difficulties and uncertainties. Now he is over 70 years old, his children are grown up, life is no longer a struggle, but he still regrets that if he had not quit his job, he would now have a pension book to feel secure in his old age.

Risks of occupational safety, lack of social and health insurance, unstable income... that freelance workers are likely to encounter. Illustration photo: Bao Phuoc

Currently, there is no definition of freelance workers. However, in the common sense, freelancers are people who work without a fixed labor contract, are autonomous in finding work and income, often do seasonal or short-term jobs that are not under the management of any organization or business. To put it simply, they are handymen, meaning... they do whatever they come across.

According to 2024 statistics from the General Statistics Office, in Vietnam, the number of freelance workers and informal workers is 64.6%. Common freelance jobs include street vendors, vendors at traditional markets and wholesale markets; construction workers; porters, freelance cargo handlers; motorbike taxi drivers, cargo carriers; domestic helpers; sanitation workers, security guards, etc. These are not easy jobs and have low incomes.

In the context of the digital economy and the growth of industries such as tourism, services, information technology, etc., the freelance labor market is growing. As the cultural and tourism center of the Central region, freelance jobs such as tour guides, event photographers, or tour organizers are also very popular in Hue. Besides traditional street vendors and small-scale trading, online business (through platforms such as Shopee, Lazada) is also a popular choice for freelancers who do not require high qualifications.

My father’s old job as a bicycle taxi driver has now been replaced by a technology-based motorbike taxi and is a popular choice for many people in Hue , especially young people, students, or those without other stable jobs. Like the traditional motorbike taxi driver in the past, the technology-based motorbike taxi driver is facing many difficulties. Unstable income and rising living costs are the main challenges. The fierce competition among technology drivers leads to having to work more to earn the same income, which may not even be enough to cover basic living expenses.

The Draft Law on Employment (amended) has mentioned a number of policies for freelance workers, such as: Regulations on preferential credit policies for job creation in the direction of creating access opportunities for all workers in need; regulations on proactive employment support policies, covering groups of workers without labor contracts; regulations on policies to support job creation for some disadvantaged and specific groups of workers...

In recent years, the State has also implemented voluntary social insurance and universal health insurance policies to cover the safety net for these subjects. However, in reality, the number of self-employed workers participating is very small. They even confuse health insurance with social insurance, social insurance with life insurance. The reason is not only due to limited awareness but also due to unstable and uncertain income, so they do not have the conditions to participate in insurance types.

The issue is to innovate the way of communicating policies - not just general, but practical, easy to understand, close to the lives of informal workers. At the same time, it is possible to consider policies to support more flexible contribution levels, or integrate voluntary social insurance into poverty reduction and livelihood support programs, to gradually raise awareness and participation capacity of this target group.

Given the difficulties that freelance workers are facing, there needs to be more specific policies to protect freelance workers from the uncertainties and risks they may encounter.

Tri Anh

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/can-co-chinh-sach-cu-the-de-bao-ve-lao-dong-tu-do-156277.html