Landmark legal ruling for gig workers in payout for death on the job

A decision to award a food delivery drivers family compensation after he died on shift has been welcomed by unions.

A delivery driver’s family has been awarded $827,400 in compensation after he died working a shift. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

A delivery driver’s family has been awarded $827,400 in compensation after he died working a shift, in a landmark legal ruling.

It is the first time an Australian gig-economy worker has been acknowledged as an employee, after Xiaojun Chen died when he was hit by a bus on his bike working for food delivery service Hungry Panda in Sydney two years ago.

Mr Chen’s surviving family – including his wife Lihong Wei, their two children and his grandfather – will receive the money from the NSW workers compensation scheme, following a decision handed down by the state’s personal injury commission.

Slater and Gordon secured the workers death benefit on their behalf. Practice group leader Jasmina Mackovic said the decision is an Australian first.

“To our knowledge, this is the first case where there has been an admission that a gig economy driver has been considered a worker,” Ms Mackovic said in a statement.

“Gig-economy workers and their families are usually denied any entitlements because they are considered independent contractors rather than employees, meaning they are unable to access workers’ compensation and other benefits such as annual leave and sick leave,” she said.

Ms Mackovic said gig-economy companies do not currently provide adequate protection to workers, many of whom are migrants and are “particularly vulnerable”.

“We are only going to see more workers die and be injured on our roads with limited rights to compensation if something doesn’t change,” she said.

Hungry Panda agreed Mr Chen was an employee and admitted liability for compensation after his death, according to the NSW personal injury commission decision.

Transport Workers’ Union national secretary Michael Kaine welcomed the decision and acknowledged Ms Wei’s campaign to increase gig workers’ rights.

“She has bravely spoken truth to power,” he said.