MPs call for more rights for ‘self-employed’ workers at firms like Uber and threaten huge fines for firms that break the rules
Gig economy companies have been accused of exploiting workers and denying them their rights
FIRMS which exploit workers by wrongly refusing to give them benefits such as holiday pay should face large fines, MPs said today.
Two Commons committees called for new rules to crack down on large “gig economy” firms similar to Uber and Deliveroo.
Under the proposal, companies would automatically have to treat their staff like workers unless they could prove they were genuinely self-employed.
That would mean they’d have to pay them minimum wage, grant them time off for holidays or illness and contribute to a pension pot.
If they wrongly labelled their workers as self-employed, they would be subject to hefty fines.
The plans have been drawn up in a draft Commons bill by the Work and Pensions committee and the Business committee.
They follow a string of court cases which have forced firms including Uber and Addison Lee - which claim their drivers are self-employed - to classify them as “workers” instead.
Worker is a class between self-employed and full-on employee.
Labour MP Frank Field, chairman of the Work and Pensions committee, said: "It is time to close the loopholes that allow irresponsible companies to underpay workers, avoid taxes and free ride on our welfare system."
Rachel Reeves of the Business Committee added: "Uber, Deliveroo and others like to bang the drum for the benefits of flexibility for their workforce, but currently all the burden of this flexibility is picked up by taxpayers and workers.
"This must change. We say that companies should pay higher wages when they are asking people to work extra hours or on zero-hours contracts.”
Firms like Uber claim they offer staff more flexibility than they would get if they were full-time employees.
The Government has already pledged to take action to stop large companies abusing the power they have over workers in the gig economy.