Riders in food delivery and courier activities are covered by either the Labor Code of the Philippines or the contract or agreement with the digital platform company, depending on the existence of an employer-employee relationship.
The labor department issued an advisory in order to help set the standards in determining work relationships introduced by the booming delivery service sector.
In an advisory, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said delivery riders who are considered employees of the digital platform company are entitled to the minimum benefits under the Labor Code of the Philippines.
But those deemed as independent contractors or freelancers shall be governed by their respective contracts or agreements with the digital platform company, Bello said.
He added that the existence of an employer-employee relationship between the delivery rider and the digital platform company may be determined using the principle of “primacy of facts” by applying the four-fold test, the economic reality test and independent contractor test, while taking into account the flexibility of work, including working time, control through technology, and use of the equipment and other inputs.