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Employment Status consultation - government response & guidance
You would be forgiven if you had forgotten all about the consultation on Employment Status; after all we’ve gone through a change of government (nearly two!) and a global pandemic since it was released in 2018. The consultation invited views on the 2017 Taylor review of Modern Working Practices and the government's subsequent Good Work Plan. On July 26th 2022 the government published its response along with new guidance to assist with employment status determination. It’s fair to say, there aren’t big changes or plans for change when it comes to the framework for employment status and how it is determined. If you feel inclined to read the response document in its entirety, there’s a link at the bottom of this page), but here’s a summary of the key points:- 162 responses to the consultation were submitted, mostly from representative bodies and trade unions
- Most were supportive of employment status reform but there was no consensus on how this could be achieved
- The government thinks that the current employment status framework works for the majority but boundaries between statuses can be unclear for some individuals and businesses. The benefits of creating a new framework are currently outweighed by the associated disruption and costs as businesses focus to recover from the pandemic
- The government thinks the 3-tiered employment status (employee, worker, self-employed) is still the best approach
- It was agreed that increased transparency for individuals was needed, resulting in accompanying guidance (links below)
- “Calculating Minimum Wage” guidance has been updated to clarify working time for casual and gig workers
- The government is addressing delays in the tribunal system
- The government agrees there could be some benefit in further aligning tax and employment status - but there are no plans at the moment to do anything on this.