TUC and Usdaw continue to call on retailers not to undermine workers’ rights by use of “freelance” staff

Paddy Lillis and Kate Bell’s letter to retail chief executives says: “We are representatives of 5.5 million working people, including hundreds of thousands of workers in the retail sector, to urge you to join other retailers and end the use of so-called freelance staff in your stores.

“Retail is a vital part of the UK economy, providing 2.9m jobs in the UK. Retail workers work extremely hard to make your shoppers’ experience as enjoyable as possible. In return, retail workers deserve decent pay, security and investment in their skills and training. It is therefore extremely worrying to discover that your retail chains are among those named as recruiting so-called “freelance” workers operating on a self-employed basis.

“It is inconceivable that anyone entering your stores would consider that the person serving them was a self-employed worker akin to a visiting tradesman, rather than the permanent or temporary worker for your business. Employment rights are not a “nice to have” that employers can opt in and out of at will. They ensure that workers are paid properly, that they have sufficient rest breaks to safeguard their health and that they are not discriminated against.

“We urge you to end this practice immediately and ensure that all your workers receive the rights and protections that they deserve as directly employed or agency workers. A number of other retailers have already pledged to end their use of such arrangements, including Uniqlo, Gymshark and Lush, according to a recent report in The Guardian.

“Trade unions and the workers we represent will fight to ensure that this practice is driven out of the retail sector altogether. Meanwhile we will press the Government to improve measures to crack down on bogus self-employment and modernise the legal test for “worker” status to ensure that protections are extended to all workers to whom it was intended.”