Nearly a third of freelancers are planning to stop contracting in the UK because the changes to IR35 due in the private sector in April, research has claimed. One in seven freelancers (13 percent) plan to find contracts abroad, 11 percent plan to stop working or retire early and 8 percent plan to move into employment, according to IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed). Half of the freelancers surveyed also said they will only continue freelancing if they can find contracts to which the new off-payroll working rules do not apply. More →

The ongoing worldwide friction between legislators and firms operating in the “gig economy” was evident this week as a US judge denied Uber and Postmates a temporary reprieve from California’s new gig worker law. The ruling comes as a setback for both companies as the legislation has the potential to undermine their business models. More →

Two surveys have highlighted continuing fears among freelancers about the changes to the IR35 rules due to take effect in April. The reforms will shift the responsibility for defining contractors’ tax status from the individual to the employer to crack down on so-called ‘disguised employment’, where off-payroll workers are able to pay less tax than employees. However, concerns have been raised that the rules could force organisations to bring genuine contractors and freelancers on to the payroll, reducing flexibility for both parties. More →

The UK’s ‘alternative workers’, comprising gig economy workers, freelancers and contractors, have cited lack of pay, benefits and job security as their most significant concerns in new research. Yet according to The 2020 Pulse of Talent report released by Ceridian, plenty of the 536 respondents praised the flexible and ‘interesting’ nature of the work on offer. More →

Policy makers should resist claims by Uber that its drivers fall into a middle ground between traditional employees and independent contractors, a new study says. The research report, Profits Uber Everything?, by Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, examines Uber’s argument that its drivers are “independent workers” who are, in some respects, like individuals working for others and in other respects are like independent businesses. The company is only trying to establish this new category to exonerate itself of any responsibility for the workers, the researchers claim. More →

Policy makers should beware of classifying all gig economy workers as “employees”, a new research report has claimed. Such workers vary in age, income and education in a similar way to the traditional workforce and crafting regulations that treat both fully committed and occasional gig workers as one group is unlikely to be an efficient solution, the report from IZA World of Labor contends. More →