Taylor Report on The Gig Economy Released

The Taylor Report on the Gig economy is out today. There are seven recommendations, the main suggestion that has grabbed the headlines is ending paying people in cash. The idea Mr Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA since 2006 is suggesting, is the use of website payment platforms.

However, some people might argue, once you take cash out of the economy altogether and go to electronic payments exclusively, none of your affairs remain private? The government would even know how many pints you drink on a Friday night, or if you smoke? How many condoms do you buy? Does the public want that level of scrutiny into their private lives? The thought that the government could simply ‘turn off your life’ with the flick of a switch is threatening. 

A claimant desperate for a new pair of shoes might be tempted to mow his neighbour’s lawn for a spot cash payment?

True he would be said to be cheating the system if not declared, but with virtually all support being taken away such as Crisis Loans, for all but the most desperate… it is a way to survive? Jobcentre Plus is not helping some people with Travel-to-Interview support. Temporary workers are not being given help to get to job interviews. People are being 'parked'. This includes people who work in IT, an industry that makes extensive use of contractors.

Freezing benefits for four years has breached the social contract between tax payer and recipient. Tax payers are still paying the same amount of tax, but getting less and less it seems. The money is being used to subsidise tax reductions to the rich. There is a moral dimension to dishonesty. If people can see they are being cheated by the government, why should they be expected to follow the rules it could be argued?  

Back to the report... 

According to the BBC Mr Taylor's review found the UK has a "great record on creating jobs" but less so on the "quality" of those jobs.

"In my view, there is too much work particularly at the bottom end of the labour market that is not of a high enough quality," Mr Taylor told the BBC.

"There are too many people not having their rights fully respected.

"There are too many people at work who are treated like cogs in a machine rather than being human beings, and there are too many people who don't see a route from their current job to progress and earn more and do better," Mr Taylor said.

The trade unions say the report does not go far enough. In the UK, there are 4.5 million people in insecure work and a recent report pointed to a link between the stress and insecurity of working in the Zero Hours economy and mental health issues in young people.

The idea of 'dependent contactor' is a good concept. These workers should have the rights of an employed person and to a basic income, holiday and sickness pay, at the very least.  

The government will relish an excuse to find a way to tax the cash economy and reduce people’s privacy…the Unions will argue almost certainly, that more needs to be done to end the scourge of insecure work and exploitation. 

At the ABC, we want to see the end of commission only sales jobs in the Home Improvements industry. The ending of On Target Earnings (OTE) and the practise of massively over inflated earnings projections in job advertisements by companies seeking salespeople. We would like these OTE projections to be based on actual previous experience.

Young people get sucked into jobs offering fantastic promises and it destroys their faith in the world of work when they realize they have been conned. Some young people don’t want to work [although fewer than one may think] but is that laziness, or is it a simply a lack of willingness to be exploited in a corrupt, working environment?

A basic wage in sales would promote more ethical selling and less exploitation and stop companies in industries like double glazing from claiming that canvassers and salespeople are ‘running their own business’. Companies would be less inclined to ‘manage people out of the business’ by withholding sales leads if it was costing them. They would be motivated to help train people, not just replace them?   

Companies in the Home Improvements field can be put into liquidation to avoid the guarantees given on products installed. With no redundancy to pay out, companies can rise 'Phoenix like' to trade again under a new name. It is common practise.  We believe that proper employment practises would get rid of the cowboys in fields like glazing or renewable energy, wall coatings, kitchens, driveways etc. Consumers would be better protected from salespeople desperate to put food on the table.

There are many spin-offs from these suggested changes in working practises and it could also help consumers from being ripped-off.

The Taylor Report is a starting point and a welcome first-step. 

Video: Dr Collins (81) who has dementia  was sold almost £6K worth of doors by a Zenith Staybrite Ltd salesman when she just wanted a new door handle.

Her son Dominic MacMahon claims his 81-year-old mother was taken advantage of. Dr Collins, a grandmother of two, was persuaded to hand over a cheque for an eye-watering £5,743.73 for a new front door and backdoor which Mr MacMahon says were simply 'not needed'.