Compensation for flexible workers facing cancelled shifts

19 Jul 2019 02:32 PM

Millions of flexible workers will benefit from new rights and extra protections if they lose out on work, under proposed government reforms.

As part of the largest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation, millions of flexible workers will benefit from new rights and extra protections if they lose out on work, under proposed government reforms.

Advancing the Good Work Plan, the government will consult on proposed new measures for flexible workers, including:

Business Secretary Greg Clark recently said:

Innovative entrepreneurs and new business models have opened up a whole new world of working patterns and opportunities, providing people with freedom to decide when and where they work that best suits them.

It’s vital that workers’ rights keep pace with these changes, reflect the modern working environment and tackle the small number of firms that do not treat their staff fairly.

We are the first country in the world to address modern working practices and these protections will cement the UK’s status as a world-leader in workers’ rights.

Low Pay Commission Chair Bryan Sanderson recently said:

We are delighted to see the government taking forward our recommendation to consult on these measures.

Last year we looked at the data on one-sided flexibility and talked to workers and businesses across the UK. Our report, published in December, found that shift cancellations and short notice of work schedules were significant problems, especially for low-paid workers.

The proposed changes, part of a package of policies we suggested, have the potential to improve work and life for hundreds of thousands of people.

Often used in service industries such as couriers and hospitality and in the retail sectors, flexible working allows people to fit their work around their personal lives, including caring responsibilities and studies.

Following the Matthew Taylor review, which found that zero hours contracts work for the majority of those on them giving them the flexibility they seek but recommended that the Low Pay Commission should examine the issue of one-sided flexibility. Nearly 40% of UK workers say that their hours can vary from week-to-week, with approximately 1.7 million individuals feeling anxious that their working hours could change unexpectedly.

The government’s proposed reforms will allow flexible workers to retain their autonomy that suits them, while allowing businesses to continue using them to cope with peaks in demand.

The proposed measures follow the government’s announcement that it is consulting on creating a single labour market enforcement body, which will strengthen protections for workers and provide them with new rights.

Notes to editors

The government is inviting views on flexible working and has published a consultation on one-sided flexibility. The consultation will be open for 12 weeks.

The Low Pay Commission found that approximately 1.7 million individuals were very anxious that their working hours could change unexpectedly (source: Government response to one-sided flexibility from the Low Pay Commission, 2018)

17% of low-paid workers who had flexible hours were provided with no more than a day’s notice prior to their shift being cancelled (source: Labour Market Outlook, CIPD, 2018)

Nearly 40% of all UK workers say that their hours ‘tend to vary from week to week’ (source: A Response to government on ‘one-sided flexibility’, Low Pay Commission, 2018)

The Taylor Review found that to ban zero hours contracts in their totality would negatively impact many more people than it helped.

The Good Work Plan was announced in December 2018 and formed the government response to the independent Taylor Review of impact modern working practices (2017). The review found that the strength of the UK’s labour market is built on flexibility but that a clearer focus was needed on quality of work as well as the quantity of jobs. The government has already taken action by: