The government has announced that, under new plans, a ban on exclusivity clauses in employment contracts would be extended to lower income workers in the UK, in a move that has been welcomed by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE).
Employers sometimes include exclusivity clauses in their contracts to prevent their employees from working for different companies. In 2015, the government moved to ban such clauses in zero-hour contracts and is now poised to extend this ban further.
Under the new plans, announced by the government’s Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the ban would be extended to cover contracts in which the guaranteed income a worker receives is at or under the Lower Earnings Limit.
The Lower Earnings Limit currently stands at £123 per week and the proposed ban would mean that a further 1.5 million people would not be subject to exclusivity clauses. The extended ban has been described as offering greater flexibility to groups of workers such as those in the gig economy or from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Commenting on the announcement, IPSE Director of Policy Andy Chamberlain said: “The extension of the ban on exclusivity clauses is welcome. By cutting back on these restrictive clauses, the opportunity to find more flexible work will be open to more people.”
Business Minister Paul Scully said: “We are putting more control into the hands of the lowest paid, giving them the freedom to decide who they work for and how often.”
“As well as supporting workers to increase their income, the reforms will also benefit businesses by widening the talent pool of job applicants to those who may have been prevented from applying for roles due to an exclusivity clause with another employer, and also helps businesses to fill vacancies in key sectors like retail and hospitality.”
“The reforms will allow low-paid workers to reskill and make the most of new opportunities in existing sectors with growing labour demand.”
