Hong Kong authorities will propose to improve the rights and benefits of food delivery workers this year and consider legislative means to protect them better, following a string of recent labour disputes and protests.

Some lawmakers highlighted the need for greater scrutiny of such workers, noting that many of them operated illegally.

Sun revealed that the authority had studied the regulatory regime in mainland China, where the Supreme People’s Court had determined and defined the relationship between platform operators and workers based on work arrangements.

He added that based on the findings of two surveys conducted by the Labour Department last year, workers were “most concerned about work injury compensation”.

Lawmakers voiced concerns that the current protection of food delivery workers in the city lagged behind many regions, including the mainland and some Western countries.

In Hong Kong, food delivery workers have gathered to protest on several occasions in recent weeks.