Future World of Work and Rights of Workers

By Amanda Beattie
24 Jan 2017

The gig economy, a phrase coined to describe a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs, has been catapulted in to the media spotlight in recent months with Uber and Deliveroo drivers among others arguing that instead of being self-employed, they were in fact workers and therefore due a number of rights under that status.

With no signs of abating, the government’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee launched an inquiry in October 2016 into the future world of work, focussing on the rapidly changing nature of work, and the status and rights of agency workers, the self-employed, and those working in the 'gig economy'.

Croner response

As this affects a proportion of Croner’s client base, our Litigation Experts Amanda Beattie and Kaushik Chowdhury submitted a written response to the government on their behalf. In the submission they ask among other things for a clearer definition of what is a ‘worker’; make suggestions as to the status and rights of agency and casual workers and the self-employed; and what specific provisions there should be for the protection and support of agency workers and those who are not employees. You can read a copy of Croner’s full response on the Government’s website, click the following link and search for Croner among the responses: Croner’s submission to the Future World of Work and Rights of Workers. Croner has also previously published a guide to Employment Status and worker rights, click here to download your copy.

About the Author

Amanda Beattie


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