Ill-prepared: Strengthening sick pay for the self-employed

Self-employed workers account for 13 per cent of all people in work. There are more self-employed people than work in manufacturing, and four times as many as work in finance and insurance. Yet they have historically been overlooked by governments of all stripes.

The government’s ‘make work pay’ agenda will see the biggest improvement to employment rights in a generation. It includes some provisions that will help the self-employed, such as reforms to employment status, the right to a written contract, tackling late payments, and extending health and safety and blacklisting protections. But as it stands, it risks leaving the 4.4 million people who are self-employed excluded from key provisions such as sick pay.