Recommendation 10

We are concerned that many people working in the gig economy may be missing out on their right as a worker to build up a pension through auto-enrolment. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) told us it faces considerable challenges in enforcement, with employers challenging its decisions at every stage and having to meet a high evidential burden at tribunals. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy issued guidance on 26 July 2022, bringing together existing case law. TPR told us that while this new guidance would be helpful to refer to in its discussions with employers and at tribunals, it would still need to evaluate decisions from employers on a case-by-case basis and argue its case at tribunal. We heard from Uber and the GMB that better enforcement arrangements are needed to ensure workers get their pension rights. We repeat the recommendation made in two previous reports that the Government should bring forward an Employment Bill for parliamentary scrutiny as soon as possible to increase the legal protection available to people in low-paid work and the gig economy. In the meantime, we recommend that DWP should work with TPR to estimate how many people working in the gig economy should be classed as workers and what resources or powers TPR needs to be able to ensure employers in the sector comply with their auto-enrolment duties. They should report back to us by March 2023.