China's top procuratorate improves legal protections for food delivery workers

BEIJING -- China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), the country's top procuratorate, said in a statement Monday that it had stepped up efforts to strengthen legal protections for the country's growing numbers of food delivery workers and other workers providing on-demand services via online platforms such as ride-hailing apps.

Since February, Chinese procuratorial agencies have handled over 120 public interest litigation cases involving legal protections for these workers, many of whom are gig workers who face disadvantages in the job market, and for other vulnerable groups such as rural migrant workers and workers with disabilities, according to the statement.

The SPP has directly handled a rights and interest protections case for food delivery workers, and it has urged internet enterprises to optimize their delivery and reward-punishment algorithms, which can overwhelm workers by assigning them excessive numbers of orders in limited timeframes, the statement said.

It noted that since February, Chinese procuratorates have also handled more than 230 public interest litigation cases involving the special rights and interests of female workers, including birth allowance and the right to refuse to work in hazardous environments during menstruation, pregnancy or nursing periods.

Procuratorial agencies have prosecuted individuals suspected of withholding wage payments in more than 420 cases over the past six months, and their efforts have contributed to arrears payments totaling more than 54 million yuan (about $7.56 million), according to the statement.