After applying online for new employment forms occupational injury insurance (hereinafter referred to as "new occupational injury insurance"), all medical expenses were quickly reimbursed," said Yang Dongdong, a van driver for Huolala working in Dezhou, Shandong Province. He explained that in mid-July, he accepted an order requiring moving services and injured his calf while moving a refrigerator from the third floor. The total medical treatment cost over 1,000 yuan.

Three years after the first pilot program for "new occupational injury insurance," the Notice on Expanding the Pilot Program for Occupational Injury Protection for New Employment Forms Personnel, jointly issued by nine departments including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Finance, and All-China Federation of Trade Unions, took effect on July 1 this year, expanding the pilot program to better protect the occupational injury rights of new employment forms personnel and promote healthy development of the platform economy.

The first pilot program launched on July 1, 2022, in seven provinces including Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangsu, covering seven platform companies: Caocao Chuxing, MEITUAN-W, Ele.me, Dada, Shansong, Huolala, and Kuaigou Dache. As of June this year, the seven pilot provinces had a cumulative enrollment of 12.3457 million people.

The Notice proposes a three-year timeline to expand the pilot program gradually and systematically from three dimensions: expanding provinces, adding new companies, and broadening industries. It will add 10 provinces and platform companies including Didi Chuxing, SF Intra-city, and Didi Freight. The plan is to expand the pilot to all provinces nationwide by 2026 and explore incorporating platform companies from other industries into the pilot scope by 2027.

**"Pay-per-Order, Every Order Insured" Lowers Participation Threshold**

According to the Notice, pilot regions implement "full platform payment, pay-per-order, every order insured," with coverage extending to "injuries during service," meaning all accidental injuries occurring while executing platform order tasks.

Shandong Province, as a second-batch pilot, issued Implementation Rules for Occupational Injury Protection Business Operations for New Employment Forms Personnel in Shandong Province (Trial), requiring platform companies' occupational injury protection fees to be incorporated into unified work injury insurance fund management, with separate accounting and unified collection and use across the province.

Regarding "occupational injury recognition," the implementation rules stipulate that after receiving occupational injury protection benefit applications, commissioned handling institutions should promptly review application materials. For incomplete materials, they must provide written notice of all required supplementary materials within five working days. For complete applications, they should conduct reviews within five working days and make acceptance or rejection decisions according to procedures.

After Yang Dongdong's injury, he submitted materials on July 13 and received reimbursement for medical expenses on the evening of July 24, completing the entire process in 11 days. Officials from Dezhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau stated that Yang Dongdong's rapid compensation resulted from strict implementation of the rules.

Professor Wen Xiaoyi from China University of Labor Relations noted that according to the Notice requirements, the 17 pilot provinces no longer require legal labor relationships as participation prerequisites. "New occupational injury insurance" breaks through traditional work injury insurance limitations, adopting flexible "pay-per-order" declaration and payment models, with platforms paying full fees while workers bear no costs and without using wages as payment bases, significantly lowering participation thresholds and better matching flexible employment characteristics.

Wang Gong, Huolala's market director, stated that in provinces without "new occupational injury insurance" pilots, the company provides personal accident insurance and freight insurance to drivers who reach certain company assessment levels.

**Online Declaration Connects the "Last Mile" of Claims**

On March 10 this year, 40-year-old Jiangsu Nanjing delivery rider Liu Ming (pseudonym) received new occupational injury disability subsidies from Jiangsu provincial human resources departments. In September 2024, Liu Ming unfortunately fell while avoiding pedestrians during delivery, resulting in cervical fracture. Reminded by his station manager and colleagues, he applied for "new occupational injury insurance" through the MEITUAN-W rider app.

"Under guidance from MEITUAN-W platform staff and human resources department personnel, I followed system prompts to submit application materials online and completed labor capacity assessment," Liu Ming recalled.

"The moment I received the bank account notification, I finally felt relieved," Liu Ming said. The compensation reimbursed most medical expenses, and tens of thousands of yuan in disability subsidies greatly eased his family's financial pressure.

Xun Bin, MEITUAN-W's rider protection public affairs director, introduced that MEITUAN-W has cumulatively invested hundreds of millions of yuan to pay "new occupational injury insurance" premiums for over 6 million riders in pilot provinces. Riders injured during delivery can apply with one click through the rider app, submitting online treatment certificates, accident assessment reports, and other materials. Subsequently, riders can follow process prompts to track platform handling and government department approval processes in real-time, with compensation payments automatically processed online.

"Riders have high mobility and relatively free and diverse working hours. The pilot program matches flexible employment characteristics, achieving effective protection," Xun Bin explained. To improve policy awareness and claims efficiency, MEITUAN-W has organized over 200 training sessions across Jiangsu Province since 2022, with tens of thousands of riders receiving offline training. Additionally, MEITUAN-W has configured professional handling customer service teams to provide comprehensive guidance from application material preparation and human resources process tracking to labor capacity assessment, achieving coordination between platform companies and human resources departments to connect the "last mile" of claims.

**Exploring Three-Dimensional Protection Systems**

As "new occupational injury insurance" pilots deepen, Jiangsu and other regions are beginning to construct "three-dimensional" protection systems, exploring extension of coverage from occupational injuries to pension insurance and other areas.

According to data from Jiangsu Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Jiangsu Province had 19.39 million flexible employment personnel by the end of 2024, including 4.1316 million new employment forms personnel.

Currently, Jiangsu Province has established a 400-phone hotline service system covering all occupational injury benefit application processes. Centered on "exploring new paths for system construction, providing protection for workers, and reducing risks for platform companies," it has incorporated all seven companies including MEITUAN-W into the protection scope, achieving mutual benefits for companies and workers.

MEITUAN-W has piloted pension insurance subsidies for delivery riders in Nantong City. Subsidy recipients are riders whose monthly income reaches the lower limit of relevant payment bases in their employment location and who meet this condition for three of the past six months. Based on relevant payment bases, the company subsidizes 50%, expected to cover over 10,000 local Nantong riders.

Officials from Nantong Human Resources and Social Security Bureau Social Insurance Center introduced that Nantong currently has 438 social insurance business "nearby handling" bank outlets providing "one-stop" services for new business form personnel to participate in insurance nearby. From providing bottom-line accident risk coverage for riders and online car-hailing drivers to exploring rider pension insurance subsidy pilots, a comprehensive series of three-dimensional protection mechanisms is gradually forming.

"Nantong's approach provides beneficial exploration for new employment forms personnel participating in social insurance," said Shi Fumao, leader of Beijing Legal Aid Case Peer Evaluation Civil Expert Group and director of Beijing Fumao Law Firm. Current rider types are diverse, including crowdsourcing, outsourcing, independent contracting, and registration as individual industrial and commercial households. Their work forms have weak personal affiliation, strong management relationship concealment, and difficult employer identification, commonly experiencing irregular employment procedures, unsigned written labor contracts, and non-participation in social insurance, exacerbating risks and uncertainties in labor rights protection.

Shi Fumao analyzed that paying premiums per order for new employment forms workers represents progress compared to this group's previous incomplete work injury insurance coverage. However, compared to traditional work injury insurance based on clear labor relationships, such protection shows significantly lower compensation amounts due to low payment fees. Additionally, riders only enjoy protection while taking orders; once they stop taking orders or are in non-working status, they cannot receive corresponding protection.

He suggested that among platform companies, those meeting labor relationship criteria should participate in traditional work injury insurance, while those in flexible employment should be included in "new occupational injury insurance" - all should have protection.