[UK] Zero-hours contract ban could benefit one million workers

In the UK, analysis from a leading thinktank has revealed that the Employment Rights Bill will lead to greater protections for more than a million workers, particularly through new restrictions placed on zero-hours contracts and day-one unfair dismissal rights, Startups reports.

The Work Foundation at Lancaster University report analysed data from 2023-24 using the UK Insecure Work Index. It found that 1.2 million workers would have been protected from “severe insecurity” in the workplace if the unfair dismissal measures were already in place in 2023, with a six-month statutory probation period.

It also found that the number of workers in secure jobs would have risen by 3.9 million to 17.8 million. Significantly, 92.5 per cent of zero-hour contract workers would reportedly have benefited from the new right to guaranteed hours.

In addition, the thinktank addressed a counter-proposal – the 12-month statutory probation period – and stated that this would leave 6.1 million workers in “severely insecure work”, with only 700,000 experiencing more secure work.

The report calls for the Government not to dilute reforms and argues that if “even relatively small extensions to the length of the new statutory probation period” are made, there will be a huge impact.

According to researchers, the delays could “mean over a million fewer people benefit from secure work and, most worryingly, hundreds of thousands could remain stuck in severely insecure work”. 

They also took a deep dive into the impact of these two reforms on disadvantaged groups.

The researchers reportedly found that severely insecure work would have been reduced by 8.3 percentage points for workers aged 16-24. Meanwhile, Black and Asian workers would have seen a reduction of 4.6 and 4.5 percentage points, respectively.

Source: Startups

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

In the UK, analysis from a leading thinktank has revealed that the Employment Rights Bill will lead to greater protections for more than a million workers, particularly through new restrictions placed on zero-hours contracts and day-one unfair dismissal rights, Startups reports.

The Work Foundation at Lancaster University report analysed data from 2023-24 using the UK Insecure Work Index. It found that 1.2 million workers would have been protected from “severe insecurity” in the workplace if the unfair dismissal measures were already in place in 2023, with a six-month statutory probation period.

It also found that the number of workers in secure jobs would have risen by 3.9 million to 17.8 million. Significantly, 92.5 per cent of zero-hour contract workers would reportedly have benefited from the new right to guaranteed hours.

In addition, the thinktank addressed a counter-proposal – the 12-month statutory probation period – and stated that this would leave 6.1 million workers in “severely insecure work”, with only 700,000 experiencing more secure work.

The report calls for the Government not to dilute reforms and argues that if “even relatively small extensions to the length of the new statutory probation period” are made, there will be a huge impact.

According to researchers, the delays could “mean over a million fewer people benefit from secure work and, most worryingly, hundreds of thousands could remain stuck in severely insecure work”. 

They also took a deep dive into the impact of these two reforms on disadvantaged groups.

The researchers reportedly found that severely insecure work would have been reduced by 8.3 percentage points for workers aged 16-24. Meanwhile, Black and Asian workers would have seen a reduction of 4.6 and 4.5 percentage points, respectively.

Source: Startups

(Link and quotes via original reporting)