Ryan FowlerRetail trade union leaders Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, and Kate Bell, assistant general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), have jointly written to the chief executives of prominent retailers, including Urban Outfitters, Lush, Gymshark, Uniqlo, and Emma Sleep, challenging their use of “freelance” retail staff. In the letter, they urged the companies to end what they described as a practice that undermines workers’ rights and fair employment standards.
The letter stated: “We are representatives of 5.5 million working people, including hundreds of thousands of workers in the retail sector, to urge you to 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. Especially at this time of year, 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.”
The union leaders expressed concern over recent reports from The Observer and Financial Times that revealed some retail chains were hiring self-employed freelance staff to work in stores. They criticised the practice as “laughable,” suggesting that anyone observing these workers would see them as regular retail staff rather than independent freelancers akin to visiting tradespeople.
“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,” they wrote. They urged the companies to end the practice immediately and ensure that all workers, whether directly employed or through an agency, receive appropriate rights and protections.
Both the TUC and Usdaw have pledged to continue their campaign against the use of such employment arrangements in the retail sector. The unions have also called on the Government to take action by cracking down on bogus self-employment and updating the legal framework for worker status to ensure protections are extended to all employees.
The letter concluded: “Trade unions and the workers we represent will fight to ensure that this practice is driven out of the retail sector. 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.”
