HMRC’s Employment Status Research: A Snapshot of Pre-Covid Life?
A new report for HMRC by Kantar Public sheds light on the employment status of UK workers. But have the actions of workers, businesses and payroll departments since the pandemic rendered it irrelevant?
A lot has happened since 2019. Covid. Cost of living. Ukraine. The arrival of a new US president. The departure of two UK prime ministers. So pity the authors of Different Ways of Working: Research on Employment Status in the UK, a report for HMRC that attempted to “understand the number and characteristics of individuals who are ‘workers’”, because the world of work really doesn’t look a great deal like it did just three short years ago.
The executive summary reflects this. “Analysis and conclusions drawn from the research may not reflect the current UK labour market,” it says, in a triumph of understatement.
What is good work?
The report was commissioned following the Taylor review of 2016. Its report, Good work: the Taylor review of modern working practices, recommended “seven steps towards fair and decent work with realistic scope for development and fulfilment.” These included responsible corporate governance, the need for “platform-based working” to offer flexibility for those who cannot work in conventional ways, and the need for the law to “help firms make the right choices and individuals to know and exercise their rights.”
The consultation sought to dig deeper into these recommendations. Its core objectives were to:
“1. Estimate the number of individuals in the overall UK workforce, as of early 2019, who were likely to have ‘worker’ (employee or limb (b) worker) status.
- Assess what employment status was assigned to individuals who, based on the criteria, were likely to fall into the worker category.
- Identify the demographic and economic characteristics of individuals who could have been classified as ‘workers’ – for example, their gender, age, income, earnings and industry sector.”
The study aimed to examine how employment status reform could work from a legal perspective and in terms of the modern labour market. It looked at the sometimes blurred margins of each worker type and considered the tax frameworks and employment rights in respect of each. It also aimed to identify the approaches that could best offer businesses and workers clarity, certainty and security over the coming years.
Business and workers leading the way
Different Ways of Working is an interesting study, but subsequent events have already rendered it a footnote. The report itself says as much, warning against its use as a policy document without taking into account recent history:
“The coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted the UK economic and labour market context, and uncertainty in the global economy has led to increased costs for businesses. The government must therefore take this into consideration before embarking on policy reform to employment status.”
The UK’s national strategy for work may still need to be realigned to reflect the findings of the Taylor report, but it won’t be done based on this research. Somewhat ironically, it seems workers, companies and their payroll people have forged their own paths since 2019, making the practical decisions to keep businesses afloat and workers safe. It’s now time for policy to catch up.
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The post HMRC’s Employment Status Research – Still Useful Post Covid? appeared first on Just Global Payroll.