New publication · Fabian Society
Status Critical
Members of the Employment Status Experts Forum contributed their expertise to this Fabian Society report on employment status.
Independent expertise. Constructive challenge.
Better thinking on employment status.
An independent forum bringing together recognised experts in employment status, employment law, tax, the National Minimum Wage and related policy.
LawTaxPolicyPractice
01 / About the forum
A place for expert analysis, a place where experts can disagree.
The Employment Status Experts Forum provides a platform for informed analysis across a field that affects tax, rights, pay, enforcement and the wider labour market.
Our purpose is not to manufacture consensus. Members are free to test assumptions, challenge proposals and develop alternative solutions. Where the forum communicates externally, we make clear whether an idea belongs to an individual contributor or reflects an expressly agreed collective position.
Employment lawTax & PAYENational Minimum WageLabour supply chainsGig economyVolunteering
02 / News
Latest from the forum
03 / Current work
Issues under examination
Our work connects technical detail with the real consequences of policy and practice.
01
Immediate priority · Policy paper
PAYE Paid:
Taxed without rights
The paper examines the structural mismatch experienced by people subject to employment-style payroll deductions while basic employment protections may be denied, obscured or difficult to enforce.
The proposition being testedTax should trigger rights.
Read PAYE Paid This proposal is authored by Rebecca Seeley Harris and is being stress-tested by forum members. It is not presented as an adopted forum position.
Framework
Employment Status Roadmap
Mapping where employment law, tax, PAYE, National Insurance and the National Minimum Wage align, diverge and create unintended consequences.
Read the RoadmapPolicy paper
Rebuttable presumption
Rebecca Seeley Harris proposes shifting the burden of proof in defined employment-status cases while protecting genuine self-employment. The paper has been submitted to the Fair Work Agency and is referred to in the Fabian Society's Status Critical.
Read the paperGovernment action
Status framework consultation
Seeking a clear timetable for the promised consultation and meaningful engagement on the future employment status framework.
04 / How we work
Independent by design.
Rigorous in practice.
Credible policy depends on candour, clear authorship and a willingness to test ideas against law and lived experience.
- 01Independence
No member is required to support a particular policy position.
- 02Intellectual honesty
Disagreement is recorded and examined, not edited away.
- 03Clear attribution
Individual views and collective positions are distinguished.
- 04Practical impact
Analysis connects legal principle to effects on people, organisations and markets.
05 / Leadership
Convened by experts in status and policy.
RSH
Rebecca Seeley Harris
Founder and Chair
Expert in Employment Status, IR35 and Off-payroll WorkingKC
06 / Contact
Bring your expertise
to the discussion.
The forum welcomes informed contributions from specialists across law, tax, policy, enforcement, business and worker representation.