Gig economy negativity based on 'lazy' and 'outdated' assumptions, CBI warns

“Choice is a critical part of the UK labour market – meeting staff needs in a more complex world as well as the needs of business,” the submission says.

“While passing a new law has become the lever of choice for successive governments, the next government must rediscover its role as a steward of good employee relations rather than a regulator alone."

Mrs May pledged in the Conservative party manifesto to "properly protect" workers in the so-called gig economy such as Uber drivers and Deliveroo workers, who are paid for the individual "gigs" they do, instead of a fixed wage.

While the manifesto said it will wait for the final report from Mr Taylor, who is chief executive of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), it vowed to set out clear guidelines for all workers, including the self-employed.

The CBI urged policymakers to retain and even "enhance" flexible forms of work as it warned them not to "take for granted" the strengths of the British economy.

“The CBI agrees that spreading good working practices through the economy is important as it will improve company performance through higher productivity and greater consistency of treatment across the UK workforce," the submission says.

"As we define what good work is, it is important that there is a focus on actual workforce experience and that the trap of lazy generalisations informed by outdated assumptions about the ways that people want to work are avoided. Business strongly believes that work can be both flexible and fair – whatever the form of contract."

Speaking this month at an event organised by the RSA, Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI, said it was important not to "demonise" flexible ways of working such as zero-hours contracts.

"Let's not demonise flexible and praise fixed," she said. "It's not about flexible versus fixed, it's about good work."

Official data last month showed more than 900,000 British workers are employed on zero-hours contracts, accounting for 2.8pc of all employed people in the UK.

The Office for National Statistics said the majority of these workers were happy to be employed this way.

The UK's unemployment rate currently stands at 4.6pc, its lowest since 1975, while the working age employment rate is at a record high of 74.8pc.

The CBI called for a partnership between business and government that ensured the law set ''appropriate and effective minimum standards, and to promote good workplace practices for the mutual benefit of business and workers in areas where the law is an inappropriate or ineffective tool for change.”

Mr Taylor's report, due in June, is expected to recommend six strategic shifts to enable policymakers to adapt to modern employment trends, including changes to the tax system and more clarity on how different forms of labour are classified.

Speaking this month, Mr Taylor said the critical issue on workers' right was whether flexibility was ''two way or one way''. He said: ''Two way flexibility is great... and we shouldn't do anything in our review to reduce it.

''What we need to tackle is one way flexibility... where people feel they have to available for work, but are not guaranteed work. There's is a quid pro quo about flexibility, where it benefits the individual and organisation and it's not simply about the transfer of risk.''