As part of our summer 2024 employment trends series, we explore what has been happening in relation to worker status.
EU Platform Workers Directive
The EU is addressing the vulnerability of gig economy workers who often lack standard labour protections. The EU Platform Workers Directive, approved by the EU Parliament in April 2024, aims to reclassify misidentified self-employed individuals as employees, ensuring they receive appropriate employment rights.
The Directive also mandates transparency in algorithmic decision-making and data usage, and requires human oversight for any employment-related decisions. This move is part of a broader trend to provide minimum protections for gig workers, including transparent and predictable working conditions.
Gig economy workers’ wellbeing
A survey by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) in April 2024 highlighted the struggles of gig economy workers, including stress, exhaustion, unpredictable income and difficulties in managing caring responsibilities and taking holidays. The report calls for health and safety to be central in the development of new technologies and for the profession to adapt to changes in work arrangements. This reflects a trend towards recognising and addressing the health and safety risks associated with gig work.
Prior to the general election, the Labour Party published its Plan to Make Work Pay, which included a commitment to ban “exploitative zero-hour contracts”. This looks set to feature in the Employment Rights Bill mentioned in the King’s Speech. The Bill is also likely to introduce a right to a contract that reflects the employee’s normal hours, based on a 12-week reference period. The government also plans to provide a right to reasonable notice of changes to shifts or working time and a right to proportionate compensation for cancelled or curtailed shifts.
Deliveroo case and collective bargaining rights
At the end of 2023, the UK Supreme Court ruled that Deliveroo riders are self-employed contractors, not workers, and therefore cannot access collective bargaining rights. This contrasts with other rulings, such as another Supreme Court case where drivers were classified as workers. The legal debates over status continue, amid a need for clarity on the employment status of gig economy workers.
Change to worker classification?
Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay also included a commitment to consult on implementing a new single status of worker. The government intends to simplify and strengthen employment rights by transitioning to a framework that only differentiates between the genuinely self-employed and all other workers. We do not expect this to feature in the Employment Rights Bill. The government first plans to consult in detail on how a simplified framework might work.
