Irwin Mitchell | Employment Law Update | Government responds to Taylor Review of modern working practices

Last year, Matthew Taylor made 53 separate recommendations he argued were necessary to provide “fair and decent” work, particularly for those people in vulnerable, low paid employment.

The government has now published its response. Our table helps you understand what may change and when.

Issue	Government Response	Time Frame
Employment status	Consultation launched: Employment Status	Consultation ends 1 June 2018
Introduce dependent contractor status	The government believes that the current three-tier system of employee/worker/self employed should be retained and is consulting on whether to rename workers who are not also employees dependent contractors	Consultation ends 1 June 2018
Provide clear legal tests to determine status	Government agrees there is a “compelling case for greater clarity”. The consultation seeks views on the best way to achieve this, including options for legislative reform	Consultation ends 1 June 2018
Provide online tool to determine status in majority of cases	Accepted	Will be taken forward once status changes have been agreed
Align the employment status framework with the tax status framework	Consultation seeks views on this and additionally, whether the taxation of individuals should be changed altogether and not be dependent on employee status	Consultation ends 1 June 2018
Introduce rebuttable presumption that individual has the status he/she is asserting	Rejected	No date
Oblige ETs to penalise employers by increasing compensation if employer has already lost an employment status case on broadly comparable facts	Consultation launched: Enforcement of employment rights seeking views on this	Consultation ends 16 May 2018
National Minimum Wage
Introduce higher rates to be paid in respect of any hours not guaranteed under the contract (such as zero-hours contracts)	Will ask the Low Pay Commission to consider this	No date provided
Written statements	Consultation launched: Increasing transparency in the labour market	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Extend right to receive a written statement of terms and conditions of employment / engagement to workers or ‘dependent contractors’, and make this a day 1 right for everyone entitled to a written statement	Government has agreed to extend this right. Consultation seeks views on what written statement should include	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Breaks in continuous service	Consultation launched: Increasing transparency in the labour market	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Breaks of up to one month can be ignored for atypical workers	Government agrees that this needs to be extended from 1 week and is seeking views on appropriate period	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Holiday pay	Consultation launched: Increasing transparency in the labour market	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Increase awareness of right to take paid holiday (and minimum entitlements)	Agreed	No date provided
Extend reference period from 12 to 52 weeks	Consultation seeking views on increasing reference period	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Reintroduce rolled up holiday pay	Rejected – not permitted under EU law
Right to request permanent contract/hours	Consultation launched: Increasing transparency in the labour market	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Agency staff – after 12 months working for the same end user, the right to request a direct contract with that end user	Accepts principle but consulting on whether to offer to a wider group of workers	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Zero-hours staff – after 12 months, right to request a contract that guarantees hours they have regularly been working	Accepts principle but consulting on whether to offer to a wider group of workers	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Agency workers	Consultation launched: Agency worker	Consultation ends 9 May 2018
Provide agency workers with information about their rates of pay and who is responsible for paying them	Proposal to provide workers with a “Key Facts” document when they register to work which, in addition to setting out the rates of pay and identity of person/organisation paying the worker, will also specify any other fees, costs or charges to be made and what these relate to	Consultation ends 9 May 2018. From 6 April 2019, all workers should be given an itemised pay statement
Repeal Swedish derogation exception to Agency Worker Regulations 2010	Subject to consultation – may repeal if evidence of widespread abuse of Swedish Derogation contracts (also known as pay between assignment contracts)	Consultation ends 9 May 2018
Extend remit of Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate EAS to cover umbrella companies and other intermediaries	Waiting for recommendations of EAS and consulting on extent to protection that may be required	Consultation ends 9 May 2018
Right to request flexible working
Consider how to promote flexible working and allowing temporary changes in the contract	Accepted	Will form part of the government review taking place in 2019
Internships
Stamp out “exploitative unpaid internships” by improving interpretation of the law and enforcement action by HMRC	Accepted	No date
Pregnancy and maternity leave
Review and consolidate legislation that protects women who are pregnant or on maternity leave	Accepted	No date
Statutory sick pay (SSP)
SSP to be a day 1 right paid by the employer. It should not be linked to income and should be accrued on length of service (like holiday pay)	Work being taken forward as part of Improving Lives: The future of Work, Health and Disability	No date
Right to return to the same job where individual returning after a prolonged period of ill health	Work being taken forward as part of Improving Lives: The future of Work, Health and Disability	No date
Enforcement of employment rights	Consultation launched: Enforcement of employment rights	Consultation ends 16 May 2018
HMRC should enforce NMW, sick pay and holiday pay for the “lowest paid workers”	The government accepts that action is needed and seeks views in relation to each of these proposals	Consultation ends 16 May 2018
Make enforcement process simpler if employers do not pay ET awards – should be no need to complete additional forms or pay an extra fee	The government accepts that action is needed and seeks views in relation to each of these proposals	Consultation ends 16 May 2018
Name and shame employers who not pay ET awards within a reasonable time	The government accepts that action is needed and seeks views in relation to each of these proposals	Consultation ends 16 May 2018
Permit ETs to increase compensation if similar claims are issued to those which have resulted in a finding against the employer	The government accepts that action is needed and seeks views in relation to each of these proposals	Consultation ends 16 May 2018
Workforce engagement/reporting
Introduce new duties on employers (of a certain size) to report and bring to the attention of the workforce the following: Information about its model of employment and use of agency staff Report how many requests made and granted from zero-hours workers seeking fixed hours contracts Report how many requests made and granted from agency workers seeking permanent positions	Monitor impact of corporate governance reforms supported by a “refreshed” Corporate Governance Code and take further action if these do not change behaviour	No date
Information and consultation (ICE Regulations)	Consultation launched: Increasing transparency in the labour market	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Extend to include workers as well as employers in determining threshold	Consultation launched: Increasing transparency in the labour market	Consultation ends 23 May 2018
Reduce threshold for successfully requesting ICE regulations to be implemented to 2% from its current level of 10%	Consultation launched: Increasing transparency in the labour market	Consultation ends 23 May 2018