Tuesday 4 July 2017

Minimum entry: Setting a legal wage floor for the gig economy

With Adair Turner, Chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking and ex-Chair of the Low Pay Commission

The rapid rise of self-employment has been the biggest jobs story of the last decade. For some, it represents the best of our flexible labour market and entrepreneurial spirit. For others, it represents a new way to roll back earnings and job security, particularly for those at the bottom end of the labour market. Policy in this area is also in flux, with the ongoing Taylor Review of Modern Employment.

What is clear is that the UK’s minimum wage legislation currently wholly exempts the self-employed from low pay protection. Is this an area where legislation needs to catch up with the 21st Century world of work? Or is it impractical to bring gig economy workers within the scope of the national minimum wage?

At an event at its headquarters, the Resolution Foundation presented new proposals to give parts of the self-employed workforce low pay protection, before Adair Turner and other speakers set out how public policy can respond to these major labour market changes.