Self-employment contracts in the gig economy have been slammed as "gibberish" by a committee of MPs.

The Work and Pensions Committee is looking into the working practices of gig economy companies amid accusations that workers are deprived of employment rights, such as sick leave and the National Living Wage.

The committee asked for copies of contracts after problems were highlighted in an evidence session with Deliveroo, which has announced a new delivery service that will create 1,000 jobs, Uber, Hermes and Amazon.

Committee chair Frank Field MP said: "Quite frankly the Uber contract is gibberish.

"They are well aware that many, if not most, of their drivers speak English as a second language - they recently lost a court case trying to escape TfL's new English testing rules for private hire drivers - yet their contract is almost unintelligible.

"These companies parade the 'flexibility' their model offers to drivers but it seems the only real flexibility is enjoyed by the companies themselves.

"It does seem a marvellous business model if you can get away with it."

Punchline agrees wholeheartedly with the MPs about the gig economy because under the current structure it's not a level playing field for businesses competing against it.

It can't be fair that gig economy companies can get away with not paying the National Living Wage and making pensions contributions, but other businesses have to, and it's something the Government needs to address quickly.

What do you think? Email mark@moosemarketingandpr.co.uk 

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