Following a lengthy legal battle over the question of employee rights, Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins is calling for the government to resolve UK employment law and the uncertainty surrounding the gig economy.
“Our next government must sort out the gig-economy shadow hanging over businesses,” says Charlie Mullins. “Employment law in the UK is in a mess and a new government that wants the support and trust of the business community must stop making promises about [reform] and start delivering modern, fit-for-purpose employment laws suitable for 21st century Britain.
“Thousands of companies, especially in construction, IT and the media, have moved to types of self-employment models, which means there are currently millions of people in the UK working at the edge of the law.”
Mullins argues that small and medium sized businesses may find it difficult to operate without clarity on its rights and obligations towards employees.
“I know all too well the truth and magnitude of this problem, which has cost me hundreds of thousands of pounds and eight years of my life fighting a litigious former plumber who took advantage of the law’s shortcomings…attempting to use legal loopholes and the outdated nature of the law to line [his] own pockets.
“We must now stop clogging up our courts with these cases, and the way to do that is to lay down some new laws that take into account modern working practices.”
