The Labour government intends to consult on moving towards a single status of worker, differentiating between workers and the genuinely self-employed.
Current position
Britain currently has a three-tier system for employment status, with people classified as employees, self-employed or workers: Employees, workers and beyond. Essentially “workers” (which includes employees but is wider) have rights under the EqA.
Labour government proposals
The UK government says in Next Steps to Make Work Pay (gov.uk), 10th October 2024, that it intends to consult on moving towards a single status of worker: “We will consult on a simpler framework that differentiates between workers and the genuinely self-employed, ensuring that all workers know their rights and have the comfort of protection at work.” So the next step will be a consultation document at some stage.
Before the 2024 election, Labour said much the same in “Labour’s Plan to make work pay” (pdf, labour.org.uk), May 2024. It added:
We will consult in detail on how a simpler framework that differentiates between workers and the genuinely self-employed could properly capture the breadth of employment relationships in the UK, adapt to changing forms of employment and guard against a minority of employers using novel contractual forms to avoid legal obligations, while ensuring that workers can benefit from flexible working where they choose to do so. …
We will also consider measures to provide accessible and authoritative information for people on their employment status and what rights they are owed, tackling instances where some employers can use complexity to avoid legal obligations.
On previous plans under the Conservative government…
Good Work Plan
The (Conservative) government’s Good Work Plan (gov.uk) issued in December 2018 proposed numerous changes to employment law. These included reforming the rules on which workers have different kinds of employment rights, eg under the EqA. This was particularly important given the growth of the gig economy and zero-hours contacts.
For example, under the Plan it might become more difficult for employers to avoid liability under the EqA by giving workers a right to substitute someone else to do the work.
Matthew Taylor review
The Good Work Plan followed on from the Matthew Taylor review of modern working practices (gov.uk), published in July 2017, which recommended changes to the rules on employment status.
Also in November 2017, two parliamentary select committees published a report and draft Bill aiming to reform the law on gig economy workers: ‘Worker by default’ status proposed in new gig economy Bill (personneltoday.com).
