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Simon McVicker, Director of Policy and External Affairs at IPSE, said: “There is little evidence to suggest that the rapid growth in self-employment has been driven by people forced into this way of working.
“A small minority of unscrupulous companies may be offering a precarious form of employment without the rights that come with it. But research from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) shows that only six per cent of self-employed workers were asked to do this by their (then) employer. Of these, only half (three per cent) relied on their former employer for all or most of their work when actually starting, suggesting self-employment wasn’t a necessity.
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“IPSE’s own research looking at the UK’s 1.91 million freelancers strongly supports this. Survey data shows that almost nine in ten are satisfied or very satisfied with how they work – and only two per cent are seeking an employee job in the foreseeable future.
“While the majority of the self-employed benefit from this way of working, it is right to address the problems more vulnerable workers may be facing. Being self-employed does come with the risk of having less job security, and this group are not afforded the same benefits as employees. The Government should be looking to plug these gaps to ensure workers are not exploited.
“As the number of self-employed workers continues to grow, it’s essential we don’t cast this entire group as vulnerable and instead focus on ways to help the self-employed to thrive.”
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Susie Hughes © Shout99 2016
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