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Government begins gig economy workers' rights probe

The government’s review into the working practices of some of the UK’s most recognisable ‘gig economy’ startups is to get underway today.

Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Arts, Matthew Taylor, will lead a team of four to investigate the impact short-term, casual work for tech firms such as Uber and London-headquartered Deliveroo is having on workers’ rights.

The team, which also includes onefinestay entrepreneur Greg Marsh, employment lawyer Diane Nichol, and Chief Exec of Gangmasters Licensing Authority Paul Broadbent, will speak to workers and business across the UK, visiting the likes of Coventry, Maidstone and Glasgow.

It comes after Uber’s high-profile employment tribunal defeat and protests by Deliveroo riders over pay led to calls for the sector’s employment practices to be investigated, with critics claiming the ‘gig’ model deprives workers of important employee benefits such as sick pay, maternity leave and, in some cases, even the minimum wage.

However, gig economy businesses argue that they provide the option for casual work to top up earnings, and that workers are happy to trade some freedoms for a more flexible approach to work.

Most pressingly for the government, the Office of Budgetary Responsibility has forecast that gig economy work could cost treasury as much as £3.5bn in lost tax receipts by 2020/21, a fact which has likely forced the government’s hand.

Ahead of the review, Matthew Taylor said: “The most important part of our process is getting out and about to talk to businesses and workers across Britain about their experiences of modern work.

“As well as making specific recommendations I hope the Review will promote a national conversation and explore how we can all contribute to work that provides opportunity, fairness and dignity.”

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