‘Gig economy’ workers to get improved rights
MILLIONS OF workers are to receive new employment rights from the first day in a job, including the enforcement of holiday and sick pay under “major” Government reforms.
Ministers said the UK would become one of the first countries to tackle the challenges of the changing world of work, pledging to help create better, higher-paying jobs.
In its response to a review headed by Lib Dem peer Lord Matthew Taylor into the rights of workers in the so-called gig economy, the Government said its reforms included giving zero-hour and agency workers the right to request a more stable contract. The TUC said the Government had taken a “baby step, when it needed to take a giant leap”.
Ministers said they planned to go further than the review’s proposals by enforcing workers’ holiday and sick pay for the first time, making sure workers had dayone rights such as holiday and sick pay entitlements and a new right to a payslip.
About 1.2m agency workers will be entitled to a breakdown of who pays them and any costs deducted from their wages, while the Low Pay Commission will be asked to consider higher minimum wage rates for those on zero hour contracts. Laws allowing agencies to employ workers on cheaper rates could also be repealed, while some employment tribunal fines against employers will be quadrupled to £20,000.
A consultation will be launched to see if new laws are needed to make it easier to understand if someone is an employee, worker or self-employed, an issue at stake in a series of tribunal cases.
Prime Minister Theresa May said: “We recognise the world of work is changing and we have to make sure we have the right structures in place to reflect those changes, enhancing the UK’s position as one of the best places in the world to do business. We are proud to have record levels of employment in this country but we must also ensure that workers’ rights are always upheld.”