Insecure workers are three times more likely to have been made to work while ill during COVID-19

In light of new research findings, Citizens Advice says that government must fast-track its plans to create a one-stop shop for employment rights

Insecure workers are three times more likely to have been made to work while ill during COVID-19, according to new research from Citizens Advice.

With the number of people on zero-hour contracts at an all-time high of 1 million, Citizens Advice says that they, along with agency and 'gig economy' workers, have been more likely to have seen their employment rights violated, faced job losses and lost income during the coronavirus pandemic compared to the rest of the working population.

For example, Citizens Advice found that insecure workers were on average -

• four times more likely to have faced losing their job;
• three times more likely to have been made to work while ill and to have not been paid wages they were owed; and
• one and half times more likely to have lost income, with those who had lost income averaging a loss of £1,000 a month since March 2020.

Warning of an unfolding workers' rights crisis, with people struggling to understand their rights or defend them due to a complex and patchwork system of enforcement, Alistair Cromwell, Acting Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said today -

'Zero-hours and agency workers, including delivery drivers and carers, have often been at the frontline of this pandemic.

Yet they've faced a triple hit of hardship: more likely to face losing their jobs, have their employment rights violated and experience stark drops in income.

It's not right that the rights insecure workers have aren’t always being upheld. The government must fast-track its plans to create a one-stop shop for employment rights to ensure that all workers, including people in the most precarious positions, are protected.'

For more information, see Insecure workers face 'triple hit' of pandemic hardship, says Citizens Advice.