The Government has opened a 12-week consultation on changing how employment status is decided for employment rights, alongside possible protections for people who are genuinely self-employed. The proposals are intended to address cases where people are described as self-employed despite working under conditions that may make them workers. No change in legal rights has been enacted through this consultation.
What the consultation is examining
The Department for Business and Trade says the current framework can be difficult for individuals and businesses to navigate because it draws on legislation and case law. The Government argues that uncertainty can leave some people without protections to which they may be entitled, while businesses that meet their obligations face competition from those that do not. These are the Government’s rationale for seeking views, not findings about every self-employed arrangement.
One proposal would rebalance the test used to decide whether someone is a worker. Personal service, including whether a person can send a substitute, could become less decisive, while the degree of control exercised over the work could carry more weight. The consultation also explores a presumption of worker status in some circumstances. Under that approach, an engager might have to demonstrate that an individual is genuinely self-employed rather than leaving the individual to establish worker status.
The proposals concern access to employment rights, not tax status. The Government has specifically excluded changes to the tax framework. A person’s tax treatment and employment-rights status would therefore remain distinct questions under the consultation as published.
Protections for genuine self-employment
The consultation also considers targeted safeguards for people who are genuinely self-employed. These include a possible right to receive a written statement about the individual contracts they enter into, and extending protections against blacklisting. The aim presented is to improve transparency and fairness without removing the flexibility and independence associated with genuine self-employment.
Possible implications would vary across working arrangements. The Government’s announcement names parcel couriers, delivery drivers, hairdressers and gig-economy workers as examples of occupations where status questions can arise. Those examples do not establish that all people in those jobs have the same status. The central issue is how an arrangement operates in practice, not simply the label used in a contract or the occupation involved.
The Department cites an external estimate that as many as 900,000 people may be affected by bogus self-employment. This is an estimate of potential exposure, not a confirmed count of people who have been wrongly classified, and it is not a London-specific figure. The consultation seeks evidence from businesses, workers, trade unions, representatives of self-employed people and others to inform the Government’s next decisions.
Rights remain unchanged while views are gathered
The proposals are not new protections already in force. The consultation asks what reforms should be made and how they should work. Any later legal change would require decisions after this evidence-gathering stage and, where necessary, further implementation steps. Until then, existing rules continue to govern employment status and entitlements.
The consultation forms part of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay. It focuses on targeted issues in the employment-status framework rather than replacing the wider system in this announcement. Views can be submitted until 8 January 2027. The closing date gives workers, employers and organisations time to describe how current tests operate in practice, where they see misclassification risks, and how any new safeguards could affect legitimate self-employment.
The eventual balance is still open. A clearer test could help people and businesses understand their obligations, while changes that affect substitution, control or the burden of proof could alter how particular working arrangements are assessed. The consultation does not determine those outcomes; it is the stage at which the Government is seeking evidence before deciding whether and how to proceed.
