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Labor-linked report urges action against bogus gig self-employment
The report says as many as 4 million people are classified in a limited rights “worker” status, and it calls on the Fair Work Agency to use civil proceedings to prosecute firms.
A Labour-linked thinktank and an anti-poverty charity are urging UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to crack down on companies that use “bogus” self-employment practices in the gig economy, warning that millions of workers are being denied key statutory rights. In a joint report, the Fabian Society and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation say the government should press the Fair Work Agency, launched in April, to use its civil proceedings powers to prosecute companies suspected of engaging in widespread bogus self-employment. The report also calls for further employment law changes to address longstanding misuse of employment status rules. The report highlights that UK employment law includes three classifications, with employees holding the most rights, self-employed people having limited protections, and an intermediate “worker” status, often referred to as “limb (b),” providing fewer rights and obligations than full employee status. It estimates that up to 4 million workers, including hairdressers, personal trainers, and delivery drivers, operate in this gap. The report argues gig economy firms often hire people into the intermediate status to avoid granting employment rights, and notes that Labour had promised a single worker status but later did not deliver the change after rowing back before the 2024 general election. It also points to government analysis that planned employment changes would support economic growth while costing businesses an estimated £350 million to £2.9 billion.