With another shocking story coming to light of contractors being ripped off in a tax scam, and gig-economy bosses being hauled before parliament to explain themselves, many would be forgiven for thinking things are seriously wrong in the temporary working sector. While there certainly are many causes for concern, there’s no doubt that flexible working is here to stay. Not only is it helping to drive our economy forward, but it suits the lifestyles of millions of working people across the UK.
不断变化的英国工作场所-到底是怎么回事？
The rapid growth of the so-called 零工经济 is one of the defining features of UK employment in recent years. It’s a development which has delivered significant benefits to both businesses and workers, who often find that flexible working hours suit their lifestyle, but at the same time it has also served to drive down pay and erode many traditional employment rights.
临时工作指数级增长背后的原因很复杂，但部分原因是由大量年轻人推动的，其中许多来自海外，进入劳动力市场渴望工作并准备接受较低的工资和较少的工作保障比十年前的情况要多。
这些新员工的可用性与运行非传统商业模式的公司的增长相吻合：诸如Uber，Amazon和Deliveroo之类的技术驱动型运营商，除了可用性和愿意接受低薪水之外，通常只要求很少的资格。
在几年前，长期就业一直是规范性工作的成熟行业中，使用非永久性工人的情况也变得司空见惯。–包括建筑，教育和NHS。
据估计，目前约有500万人（约占英国劳动力的15％）是自雇人士。代理商工作者的数量正在迅速增长，并迅速达到100万。现在，全国有超过25,000个招聘机构。
对薪资和条件的担忧日益增加
The pace of change in employment patterns has put legislators on the back foot. Almost overnight, many of the traditional protections afforded to workers 通过 employment law have disappeared, sometimes through the adept exploitation of legal loopholes. Case after case has come to light of workers being forced to work for low wages in poor conditions, often on zero-hours contracts.
There’s a clear need for legislators to understand the dynamics of the 零工经济, redefine legal definitions such as ‘self-employed’, ‘worker’, ‘contractor’ and ‘employee’, and enact new legislation to cater for the new reality. At the same time, there’s always a danger that intervening in markets can have unintended consequences–for example reducing the supply of labour and thereby failing to meet demand.
Recently, bosses from Deliveroo, Uber and Hermes found themselves facing tough questioning from the House of Commons Business, energy and Industrial Strategy Committee Business Committee over their business practices and allegedly harsh treatment of their workers. Uber – which has seen its reputation plummet over recent months – is currently appealing against a landmark ruling which found that their drivers should be treated as employees, which the company says would cost it millions. Both Hermes and Uber are currently facing employment tribunal cases brought 通过 workers who want to be classed as employees rather than self-employed.
工会对取消全职工作也持高度批评态度，特别是对伞式公司的兴起表示敌视，他们认为伞式公司是避免企业实际雇用工人的愤世嫉俗的解决方法。在一个 2014年报告，建筑工人工会UCATT秘书长史蒂夫·墨菲（Steve Murphy）表示：“ UCATT长期以来为被剥削的工人而战。雨伞公司是最新的剥削形式。我们绝对致力于确保结束这种剥削。”
NASUWT，教师工会和Unite也表达了类似的观点，后者在8月呼吁NHS完全停止使用伞形公司。在一个 新闻发布，Unite发言人Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe说：“伞公司简直就是依靠工人工资为生的寄生虫。尽管从技术上讲它们不是非法的，但肯定是不道德的。”
工会把重点放在错误的问题上
Mr Jarrett-Thorpe’s headline-grabbing statement is both incorrect and unhelpful. The majority of umbrella companies perform a very useful and efficient service for those contractors who need them. At 电子支付, for example, our umbrella workers’ take-home pay is dictated 通过 HMRC guidelines and our only charge is a flat fee of a few pounds a week.
禁止使用像我们这样的经过充分认证和合规的薪水提供者，这将把婴儿扔掉，使承包商无法获得宝贵的服务，使他们能够专注于自己的工作而不必担心付款。
毫不奇怪，FCSA首席执行官Julia Kermode（自由职业者&承包商服务协会）–雨伞公司贸易协会– 迅速回应了Unite的举动称她对Jarrett-Thorpe的讲话感到失望，并确认她一直在直接与NHS Improvement谈论合规伞形公司在供应链中的重要作用。
Unite and other unions would do better to acknowledge the true nub of the problem: the proliferation of non-compliant and non-accredited operators who have piled into the temporary worker market looking for easy pickings. Rather than calling for a blanket ban on umbrella companies, they would help their members more 通过 educating them, and the recruitment agencies they sign up with, on how to tell the difference between a reputable and compliant umbrella company and a cowboy operator.
在可预见的未来，局势将保持平稳
The coming few years are certain to see further changes in the dynamics of the UK workplace and continuing efforts 通过 Parliament and, HMRC and other bodies to adapt regulation accordingly. This year has already seen significant changes to the ‘IR35’ rules for the public sector – designed to combat tax avoidance 通过 workers supplying their services to clients via an intermediary – and there’s widespread speculation that something similar is in store for the private sector. Then there’s the Criminal Finances Act 2017, which creates the new offence of corporate failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion. May next year will see the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will affect the way personal data is processed and stored.
对于在临时就业部门工作的任何人来说，只有与经过适当认证和投诉的公司打交道，这才变得越来越重要。否则，可能导致许多不愉快的后果。
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电子支付是一家完全合规的外包薪资供应商，提供各种服务，包括总括和有限的公司选择。我们是FSCA（行业贸易协会）的准成员，并获得了HMRC的批准。
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