LTB 264/26 – GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT ON ENDING BOGUS SELF-EMPLOYMENT
No. 264/26
2nd October 2026
To: All Postal Branches
Dear Colleagues
GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT ON ENDING BOGUS SELF-EMPLOYMENT
Last week, at Labour Party Conference, the Government announced that it would take action to ban bogus self-employment. This is very good news for the CWU and a major step forward in a campaign our union has been fighting for years. Our motion to Labour Party Conference called for the abolition of bogus self-employment, underlining the importance of this issue to our union and our members.
Bogus self-employment has become a major problem across the parcel sector, allowing companies to cut labour costs, shift risks onto workers and undercut businesses that employ their staff directly.
This matters enormously for Royal Mail, who directly employ their staff, because it is forced to compete against parcel delivery companies that can cut costs by avoiding obligations such as employer National Insurance contributions, sick pay and holiday pay. To illustrate this, Royal Mail pays around £600m every year on employer National Insurance, while the majority of its competitors pay nothing.
This is where the pressure comes from to create a race to the bottom, and postal workers are being made to pay the price for a market where companies can gain a competitive advantage by avoiding their responsibilities as employers.
Tackling bogus self-employment will protect workers and help create a fairer parcels market, where companies compete on the quality of their service rather than by driving down employment standards.
The Government’s announcement is a significant step forward, but the detail of the legislation will be crucial. The CWU will continue to fight for robust rules that close loopholes, protect workers’ rights and create a level playing field across the sector, protecting our members’ jobs, pay and conditions.
We will be meeting with the Secretary of State in the near future to discuss the Government’s next steps. Further information will be provided in due course.
Yours sincerely
Dave Ward
General Secretary
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
LTB 264/26 – GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT ON ENDING BOGUS SELF-EMPLOYMENT