Almost half of self-employed people aged over 25 are earning less than the minimum wage, according to new research.
The TUC has published an analysis indicating that up to two million people are earning less than the hourly rate of £7.83 for over-25s, which it blamed largely on “sham self-employment”.
The representative body for the self-employed, however, accused the TUC of conflating self-employment with grey areas within the gig economy and including part-time self-employment in its figures.
Gig economy
The TUC report claimed that the two million people who were in low-paid self-employment were part of at least 3.7 million people in insecure jobs, with the remaining 1.7 million including agency workers, casual workers, seasonal workers and others with zero-hours contracts.
The analysis, drawing on the ONS Labour Force Survey (Q2, 2018) and the Family Resources Survey, found that in 2016-17 (the most up-to-date figures) self-employed people earned on average £12,300 compared with £21,600 for those in employment – a fall from £13,200 in 2015-16.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said although she recognised that self-employment was a great option for some, it was “clear that it’s not working for everyone, with millions of self-employed workers stuck on poverty pay”.
She added: “Too many workers have been forced into sham self-employment – like at Uber and Hermes. It’s not about helping workers, it’s all about companies dodging tax, ducking the minimum wage and denying workers their full rights.
O’Grady criticised the prime minister for not acting on the issue. “Theresa May promised to change things for ‘just about managing’ families, but she’s done nothing. She should be cracking down on businesses that use sham self-employment. She should ban zero-hours contracts. And she should give agency workers the right to equal pay to stop undercutting and encourage employers to create more permanent jobs.”
The TUC called on the government to act on the Taylor Review and end the Swedish Derogation (a measure that ministers had signalled earlier this year it would repeal), which it said had been used to undercut the pay of employed staff and reduce the pay of temporary staff. Under the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 temps should, after 12 weeks, receive the same basic pay and conditions as permanent staff.
The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) agreed that more protection was needed for the self-employed but Andy Chamberlain, deputy director of policy, said: “The TUC’s limited analysis does not chime with what the self-employed themselves say about their experiences. Survey after survey tells us loud and clear that on average the self-employed are happier than employees, valuing autonomy and flexibility.”
He added: “There are 1.5 million part-time self-employed people in the UK, and it is likely these account for many of the people the TUC analysis suggested were earning less than the minimum wage. For most, gig economy work provides a source of additional, flexible income that the majority are very happy to have.”
He warned against conflating terms like bogus self-employment with the gig economy or wider self-employment and cited a new report from Oxford University indicating that Uber drivers earned £11 an hour after costs while working a 30-hour week. The voluntary London Living Wage is set at £10.20.
Chamberlain added: “While we must protect vulnerable workers, it would be a mistake to conflate ‘bogus self-employment’ with the ‘gig economy’ or wider self-employment – and then try to regulate these ways of working into oblivion. That just hurts the overwhelming majority of people who actively chose to work in this way.”
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The Oxford Uber report found that the median self-reported gross weekly income (including income streams other than Uber) among drivers was £460, considerably lower than the £596 median gross weekly pay among London workers. But most drivers reported higher satisfaction levels than the London average.
3 comments
what about support agencies that universities prefer to use, rather than use freelancer specialists direct – the SASC state that DSA work should be paid between £50 and £60 per hour but the agencies charge £80 per hour with VAT included and give the specialist who works on the front line £26 per hour, with no sick pay, nor decent holiday pay. to add insult to injury, one cannot claim Universal Credit for seasonal lulls – so all Christmas, All Easter, AND ALL SUMMER the specialist earns NOTHING and thanks to this government cannot claim any benefit either.
By the way – you are lucky to get a total of five hours with the support agencies – as they want to spread the work amongst many others – usually the others may include unqualified professionals. So the high per hour in comparison with taxi drivers ubt low hours and seasonal periods means they earn less than the taxi drivers. To be a specialist could take many years including a degree and post grad specialist qualifications.
We would rather be employed directly by the university but do not get fair access even if workers charge much much less than the support agencies they are not viewed as professional equivalents – why – we are the same workers working for the agencies …. If you can afford to pay the agencies then you are paying for two wages, maybe even three – the specialist, an office worker one or two of them for the same money you could pay two hours direct with the specialist. The government should really view the support sector and especially the agencies that provide support with professional specialists who are actually cheated out of the government guidelines for hourly pay recommendations – perhaps this should be mandatory now so money is ring fenced for dyslexia, autism etc specialists. Could Horizon please come in and view the employment protection and rights and pay given by these support agencies and listen to some of the horrible things they have done to their own workers.
oh yeah, and for the hourly rate which is only paid for the contact time, there is pre hour work such as lesson planning, gathering resources, contacting students, then after the hour – there is also after lesson computer lesson reflection for Ofsted purposes etc. all this for the one hourly rate. so therefore the paltry £26 per hour paid by support agencies has to cover THREE HOURS WORK for which as professional specialist the government SASC say should earn between fifty and sixty pounds per hour.