06/06/2017
While the growth of the ‘gig economy’ has created flexibility for businesses and individuals, it has also created such uncertainty over ‘employment status’ that a recent survey found 75% of the Institute of Directors’ 30,000 members would support clearer legal definitions of the terms ‘worker’, ‘self-employed’ and ‘employee’.
‘Future of Flexible Work’ – the latest addition to the IoD’s pre-election briefing papers – calls on the next government to introduce a range of new policies to ensure the changing jobs market ‘works for everyone’.
Its recommendations include –
- clarifying employment categories and publishing easy to understand guidance – perhaps via an online portal created by HM Revenue & Customs alongside its online tool for determining employment status for tax purposes
- HM Revenue & Customs, government departments and the Advertising Standards Authority reviewing how self-employment opportunities are advertised
- exploring ways to facilitate continuous engagement in education throughout a person’s career
- expanding the WorkerTech programme to facilitate the setting up of specific services for the self-employed
- working with online platforms to develop a verified, portable ratings file that individuals can take with them from job to job as a form of CV
- the Office of National Statistics and HM Revenue & Customs exploring how more accurate data on self-employment and pay can be collected
- the Low Pay Commission taking effects on self-employment into consideration when making recommendations on future National Living Wage rate rises
- aligning Class 4 NICs more fairly between the employed and self-employed
- launching a new tax commission to explore how to create a more level playing field so an individual’s choice of employment status is not determined by its associated tax
- ensuring the self-employed can access the social security safety net