Protection of Employment (Platform Workers and Bogus Self-Employment) Bill 2021

Public bill · Private Member · Introduced

A worker would be presumed to be an employee, not self-employed, unless the contrary is proved, and the true relationship would be judged by the actual working arrangement rather than the label used in the contract. The measure is aimed at platform and gig-economy work, where people may be treated as self-employed even when they depend on one employer, and it would also give workers more information about automated systems used to allocate work or set pay. It matters because employee status brings legal protections, while preventing bogus self-employment helps protect workers, tax revenues and social insurance funds.

Formal long title

Bill entitled an Act to declare the relationship between employer and employee to be a status relationship, to declare the question whether an individual is an employee or is self-employed to be a question of law to be independently determined, to provide that the description given by the parties shall not be conclusive in determining the true status of an employment relationship, to provide for a presumption in favour of employee status in certain cases, to clarify the employment status of individuals who undertake personally to execute work or service for third parties, to take certain measures to counter the misrepresentation of the status of employees, to amend the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994, and to provide for related matters.

Last updated 30 January 2025