MALLS and gasoline stations may soon open their doors as designated rest stops for delivery riders under a new initiative by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) to protect platform-based workers from extreme heat.
Under the proposed arrangement, riders will gain access to shaded areas, shelter, and basic amenities while waiting for bookings or taking breaks during their shifts.
The plan expands on Dole’s existing heat-protection guidelines outlined in Labor Advisory 20, which mandates that employers provide drinking water, rest areas, and cooling facilities scaled to local heat-index levels. Under that advisory, extreme heat conditions require employers to adjust work schedules, shorten outdoors exposure, or suspend and relocate activities if thermal risks cannot be adequately controlled.
However, because delivery riders work on the road rather than in conventional offices or factories, their access to rest facilities relies heavily on voluntary partnerships with external commercial establishments.
To formalize these measures, Labor Secretary Francis N. Tolentino met with mall operators, fuel retailers, and digital platform companies to discuss opening commercial welfare facilities to riders between deliveries.
‘To give you a proper perspective, the reason why we are having this shared dialogue is because of a previous meeting,’ Tolentino explained during the consultation, noting that platform companies had specifically requested the inclusion of mall operators and fuel retailers to get their perspective on the proposed framework.
‘This is a weather disturbance not of our own making, but we hope to prepare you and the employees as well and the general public,’ Tolentino added.
Tolentino instructed participating commercial establishments to submit their formal position papers by November 3, ahead of Dole;s planned release of the advisory next week. The effort reflects Dole’s broader push to extend comprehensive occupational safety and heat-protection measures to gig economy workers who spend prolonged hours outdoors.