Britain

By Ray McHale, Secretary, West Cheshire TUC

The regular BBC Radio 4 programme, File on 4 Investigates looked recently at several areas of “bogus” or “false” self-employment across a range of industries. Some of these are subject to Employment Tribunal claims co-ordinated by Leigh Day Solicitors.

It is an area where numerous successful claims, most notably by groups like Uber workers, are not stopping the spread of the practice into new areas. Basically, it asks if this is a way that will allow more employers to side-step some of the minimal protections of the recent Employment Act 2025, as it comes into force.

The programme covers a wide variety of cases: car delivery drivers (British Car Auctions), HS2 electrical sub-contractors, interpreters working in courts and other Government departments via an agency, cycle couriers, employed by a subsidiary of Royal Mail, and delivering for the NHS. It also covered more established self-employed practices like hair-dressers and beauticians, who rent chairs in a salon, and even the growing area of hospitality staff employed for shifts in various locations via the “Brigade” App.

Not really self-employed

The basic point made is that many of these staff are not really self-employed, in the sense of being able to accept or refuse work offered, but unlike other workers have no rights to sick pay, employer insurance, maternity leave, minimum wage, pension contributions, redundancy-pay or even notice.

It doesn’t really go into why it can be an attractive form of employment – these workers pay little National Insurance, and have higher hourly rates when they are working. But it highlights the likely lost tax income – suggested at around £8.5bn per year – so the programme asks why even Government contracts often don’t specifically stipulate against its use, or, as in the case of HS2, do little to enforce contract stipulations.

Solicitors Leigh Day highlight that despite success in practically every group case they pursue, the outcome of staff being designated “workers” – with entitlement to minimum wage and sick pay, many employers simply tweak their model to work around the ruling or maintain the self-employment status for new workers.

Employment Tribunal cases only apply to those covered by a claim and up to the date of the decision – they don’t stipulate future practice.

The big area not looked at is construction – although there is an indication that this might affect as many as 1.2m workers, and where new practices like “umbrella companies” are getting around union objections to bogus self-employment, which was once known as The Lump. Again, it is an area where higher up-front pay rates can be attractive compared to the longer-term benefits of direct employment.

“Single worker status” not included in new legislation

The main expert commentator in the programme was the former government minister and MP for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough, Justin Madders. He was a key figure in drafting the Employment Rights Act, before Keir Starmer sacked him following Angela Rayner’s resignation.

Madders strongly supports a provision not yet included in new legislation for a “single worker status”, rather than the distinction between a “worker” and an “employee”. He hints at resistance to this from other government departments, which has led to a promised consultation on the issue not progressing.

A former employment solicitor, Justin, speaks on the programme and there is no doubt that he is committed to trying to address this problem rather more than the current Labour Government. He hopes, he said, that the new “Fair Work Agency” will play a role in stopping a race to the bottom, in terms of employment rights.

But it is clear that the new legislation seems unlikely to significantly hold back these dubious practices, because employers – including government departments – use them to hold down costs. It is clearly an area where there is a need for a unified approach and campaign across the trade union movement

This programme is available on BBC Sounds, here. Feature photograph is graphic from BBC programme online