Did you hear the recent news about freelance plumber, Gary Smith?
He worked at least 40 hours a week for Pimlico Plumbers over six years, wearing the company uniform, and driving the company vehicles.
After he had a heart attack he asked if he could reduce his hours, but they said no and dismissed him.
Gary had been paying taxes as a self-employed contractor, but the Court of Appeal ruled he was in fact a ‘worker’, meaning he was entitled to employment rights including sick pay, minimum wage, and paid holiday.
The company intends to take the case to the Supreme Court.
This ruling is a landmark case for companies who use short-term contracts and self-employed people in what’s called the ‘gig economy’.
Uber taxi drivers have already won the right to be classified as workers.
Deliveroo cyclist couriers are also taking legal steps to get better rights.
Gig economy
It is estimated that 5 million people in the UK are self-employed or independent workers, who get paid for each ‘gig’ instead of receiving a salary. This may be in place of, or in addition to, a full-time job.
Employers like it because they only have to pay when the work is available, and the flexibility is supposed to make people more productive.
Self-employed workers like the flexible hours and control over when, where, and how they work – but there is very little employment protection. They are not entitled to holiday pay, sick pay, unfair dismissal, redundancy or national minimum wage.
Zero-hours or casual contracts are controversially used by companies including Sports Direct, JD Wetherspoons and Cineworld.
In this case, you don’t get guaranteed hours or job security, and you don’t get sick pay – but you are entitled to holiday pay.
The Department for Business is holding an enquiry into working practices including the gig economy. A spokesman said: “We want to ensure our employment rules are up-to-date to reflect new ways of working”.
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