"Two million self-employed adults earn less than the minimum wage", 28 Sep 2018

New analysis published by the TUC today (Friday) shows that half (49%) of self-employed adults aged 25 and over are earning less than minimum wage...

Self-employment has accounted for a growing share of the workforce in recent years... 

The TUC is concerned that the growth in self-employment is driven in part by sham forms of self-employment, which are used by some employers to reduce tax liability, duck the minimum wage and deny workers their rights.

Sham self-employment includes some gig economy workers, and people who are contracted to a single employer through a personal service company, rather than being contracted as an employee...

The Taylor Review into modern working practices was published a year ago, but the government has so far failed to take action to tackle insecure employment...

The TUC wants the government to follow up the Taylor Review with:

• A crackdown on bogus self-employment and steps to ensure workers enjoy the same floor of rights as employees...
• A ban on zero-hours contracts to ensure workers get guaranteed hours...
• Allowing trade unions to access workplaces, to support workers most in need of representation.

[refers to Uber, Hermes]