Businesses who unfairly categorise workers as self-employed should face penalties for tax avoidance, according to the Labour Party.
The party is introducing a bill today to help the thousands of people who are falsely told they are self-employed.
It says the Government is dragging its feet on publishing a report by the Revenue Commissioners on the practice and how it can be curtailed.
Labour Senator Ged Nash says some key delimitations need to be introduced into law.
He said: "It'll be much clearer for the Department of Social Protection, the Revenue Commissioners and indeed the Workplace Relations Commission to define the reality of your working relationship.
"We also propose to amend the tax act and to apply anti-tax avoidance laws to the practice.
"This will mean that if you are conniving or colluding as an employer to wrongly categorise work to avoid your tax and PRSI liabilities, then the law will consider you to be a tax cheat."