New action to crackdown on bogus self-employment loopholes

Over 900,000 people could benefit from new plans which include measures to crack down on bogus self-employment.

• More workers to gain access to the National Minimum Wage and holiday pay.
• Proposals will also make it easier for 900,000 people to access rights they should already be entitled to and improve the rights of the genuinely self-employed.
• Measures set out as part of the government’s Plan to Make Work Pay

Over 900,000 people could benefit from new plans which include measures to crack down on bogus self-employment, helping more workers access protections like the National Minimum Wage and holiday pay. 

Bogus self-employment is a practice whereby some businesses mislabel staff as self-employed to avoid statutory obligations.

However, the day-to-day reality is that many of these people are treated as workers, not self-employed. External estimates suggest that as many as 900,000 people may currently be affected by this and could be missing out on core employment rights. 

The proposals to be consulted on could provide greater clarity to businesses and workers, levelling the playing field for those businesses who are already doing the right thing and clamping down on abuses. This could help workers such as parcel couriers, delivery drivers, hairdressers and gig economy workers.

As part of the same measures, the consultation will propose targeted new protections for people who are genuinely self-employed, including a right to a written statement about individual contracts they enter and extended protections against the practice of blacklisting.

Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds said:

When loopholes are exploited, people are denied their basic employment rights and businesses doing the right thing are undercut.

These proposals are about creating fairness that works for businesses and working people alike, while continuing to back the flexibility and independence that genuine self-employment offers

The consultation launched today [14 October] will run for 12 weeks, closing on 8 January. Business, workers, trade unions, self-employed representative bodies and others are invited to respond via gov.uk with views. Ministers are specifically keen on views on how this practice can be stopped to bring fairness to the labour market whilst protecting, and enhancing, the rights of the genuinely self-employed.

Notes to Editors:

• The consultation looks at employment status for employment rights. It does not have any proposals related to tax status or tax frameworks.
• 900,000 people may be at risk of bogus self-employment: Low-Pay-Britain-2025.pdf
• The full consultation can be found here: Make Work Pay: employment status reform and protections for the self-employed  - GOV.UK

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-action-to-crackdown-on-bogus-self-employment-loopholes