One-sided flexibility: redressing the balance

• The government has published a consultation paper on measures to address ‘one-sided flexibility’ in the labour market.
• This follows the launch of the Living Hours Standard by the Living Wage Foundation and coincides with the publication of a new EU Directive on ‘transparent and predictable’ working conditions.

One-sided flexibility—a requirement for a worker to be available for work at very short notice, without a guarantee that any work will be available—was one of the issues addressed in the Taylor review. The review was commissioned by Theresa May soon after she become prime minister and published in July 2017 (see Good work: the Taylor review of modern working practices).

The Taylor review interpreted its brief broadly, which resulted in a focus not just on new forms of labour such as gig work, but on ‘good work’ in general. That said, it had long been a preoccupation of