Enhance state enforcement of basic rights, considering the remit of HMRC and EAS in protecting the most vulnerable workers. As a start, this should include an end to the use of ‘Pay Between Assignment’ contracts. Make the determination of employment status fairer to the individual by making it easier for them to get an early determination from the court without having to pay employment tribunal fees for doing so (subject to certain safeguards), and flipping the presumption subject to certain protections so that it is for the employer to show that a particular employment relationship does not exist. Ensure more robust penalties are in place to deal with those employers who choose to ignore the courts, either by failing to pay financial awards or failing to apply judgments to other relevant relationships in their workforce.
Incentives in the system
Seek to examine ways in which the tax system might address the disparity between the level of tax applied to employed and self-employed labour.
The full 116 page report can be accessed through this link - Good Work - The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices .
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Holiday pay calculations could change for workers 1 August 2017
The Taylor report ‘ Good Work ’ addresses some of the issues around individuals missing out on key employment rights such as holiday pay and how extending the pay reference period could be one solution.
The Review team for the Taylor report heard evidence that the current employment status framework and the rights of individuals under each status are difficult to understand – an issue we are already aware of. Consequently this creates difficulties for both individuals and employers, but the outcome is likely to be more detrimental to individuals who could be missing out on key rights, such as holiday pay. Continuity of employment For those who work casually and intermittently it can be difficult to establish the minimum period of continuous employment needed to qualify for some employment rights. There are two ways in which casual workers have sought to overcome this problem. The first is to try to establish that there are ongoing commitments to provide and perform work spanning any periods of inactivity; however, this has proven to be difficult in circumstances where there is genuine flexibility on both sides. The second approach is to utilise the statutory rules on continuity of employment which allow gaps between assignments to be bridged in certain circumstances, for example, if there is less than a week between assignments or the break between assignments is down to a “temporary cessation of work”. The Good Work report recommends that more should be done to make the process of establishing continuity of employment easier and believe the situation could be improved if the length of time an individual can be ‘not working’ but retain their entitlement is increased. This could be achieved by increasing the gap between assignments which can be bridged under the statutory rules. For example, at the moment, a gap of a week is permitted before continuity is broken. The Review team believe this should be increased to a month. The Review team believe that government should also consider clarifying the situations where legitimate cessations of work for the same employer apply. Should it just be because no work is available, or should it apply to a wider set of situations? In practice this would mean that a casual worker who works one week and then has a gap of up to a month until they next work, would now accrue continuity of employment throughout that period (but only for the time they have worked). It would therefore be easier for them to access rights which require a qualifying period. Pay reference period During the Review’s discussions with workers and trade unions, they heard a number of examples of people being denied rights indirectly and holiday pay was one that was raised continually. All workers in the UK are entitled to a total of 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave every year. For most, the only issue faced in taking this is finding a sufficiently quiet “ GMB submitted evidence to the report and advocate the abolition of continuous service requirements altogether and provide for full employment rights from day one.”
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
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