The Gig Economy: How do we protect the vulnerable 'worker'
Employment rates in Britain have been some of the highest the country has ever seen according to 2018 statistics, it being 75.6%. However, this does not take into account the actual work these workers are in. The gig economy has been rapidly expanding with creations of apps that lead to ambiguous employment statuses and therefore, ambiguous rights. The law therefore must find a way to safeguard these workers by regulating the gig economy legislatively.
The gig economy can be explained to be a labour market that focuses on short term contracts and can lead to an in-between status of ‘employee’ and ‘worker’. The most prevalent type of work in this gig economy is the rise of platform work; where an application can connect supply and demand in terms of work needed and worker. Examples of these businesses are Uber, Deliveroo and Airbnb.
This economy is not deprived of benefits however. Workers in the gig economy are able to benefit from the flexibility of choosing their hours and therefore, are finally given the ability to have some sort of work/life balance; an issue employees had complained about for many years. But at what price have they had to pay in order to obtain this flexibility?
The realities of this type of employment was brought to light in the recent Ken Loach film ‘Sorry We Missed You.’ It depicts a struggling family in the world of precarious work with the dad working ‘independently’ as a delivery driver. These types of delivery drivers have struggled to be categorised either as a ‘worker’ ‘independent contractor’ or ‘employee.’
A current case of Uber v Aslam is currently waiting to be heard at the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal found that the Uber drivers were ‘workers’ and therefore entitled to minimum wages, paid leave and other statutory rights. With Uber currently facing a ban in London and the uprise of other lift companies like Ola entering the London Market, is this the beginning of the decline of platform work? One thing is certain; legislation must change in order to protect these vulnerable precarious workers from exploitation.
