Today the government released their response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices. The government’s recognition that good quality work is important is very welcome. Unfortunately, much of the substance of the government’s response focuses on the need for further consultation and additional consideration. Six months after the publications of the Review’s recommendations, we mainly have a call for further consultation and consideration on many of the most important policy areas rather than concrete policy decisions. For example, altering labour law to ensure that self-employed workers who are dependent on labour platforms have access to legal protections – such as the minimum wage – could significantly improve job quality in the gig economy. Yet the government states only that they will hold consultations on the enforcement of employment rights and employment status recommendations. A wage premium for zero hour contracts, if set at the right level, could discourage the unnecessary and callous use of this practice. But the government will only commit to asking the Low Pay Commission to consider the impact of a higher minimum wage rate for workers on zero-hour contracts. While ending the ability of agencies to employ workers on cheaper pay rates would clearly benefit the 1.2 million UK agencies workers, yet we are told they are only considering repealing these damaging laws.
(more…)Tag: digital labour
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Uber: risk without autonomy or control
Dr Alex J. Wood discussed the implications of the recent UK Uber Employment Tribunal ruling on BBC News. The court decided that Uber must classify its drivers as workers. The ruling means that, pending appeal, Uber drivers are entitled to the national minimum and living wage of £7.20 an hour, rest breaks and sick pay.
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Digital Transformations of Work
The conference will explore issues such as the degree to which information technology is transforming capitalism and opening up new means of exploitation, whether the traditional regulation of working time, structured around a stable 9-5 5-day week, is being fractured; how labour is being fragmented and individualized and employment casualized. And whether the digital circulation of work is leading to precarity or new online entrepreneurism.
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Tracing employment rights through online labour markets
Online labour markets represent a rapidly growing feature of the world of work. Dozens of international online market places exist for the buying and selling of labour. The number of hours worked on oDesk.com (now known as Upwork), a leading platform, grew from 2 million in early 2010 to over 10 million hours in early 2013. By 2012, workers’ cumulative earnings on the site had reached an estimated $1 billion (Lehfonvirta et al., forthcoming).
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