Unite union says Labour’s workers’ bill has ‘more holes than Swiss cheese’ over zero-hour contracts

Unite has responded most critically to parts of the legislation, accusing the government of tying itself ‘up in knots’

Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham and Keir Starmer, who has been urged to push the reforms further (PA)

Labour’s new workers’ rights legislation is under fire, with one union boss claiming the proposal has “more holes than Swiss cheese”.

While others have hailed the Employment Rights Bill as bringing a “seismic shift” for workers, Sir Keir Starmer has still been urged to go further in his bid to shift the balance of power between employers and employees.

The legislation has been described by Labour as the biggest upgrade in employment rights for a generation and was published on Thursday. It will include plans to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts and “unscrupulous” fire and rehire practices which it said will benefit millions of workers.

Fire Brigade Union general secretary Matt Wrack welcomes the planned employment Bill (PA)

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said: “This is a pro-worker, pro-business plan. The government will tackle head-on the issues within the UK labour market that are holding Britain back.

Unite has responded most critically to the legislation, accusing the government of tying itself “up in knots trying to avoid what was promised”.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: “This Bill is without doubt a significant step forward for workers but stops short of making work pay.

“The end to draconian laws like Minimum Service Levels and the introduction of new individual rights, for example on bereavement leave, will be beneficial. But the Bill still ties itself up in knots trying to avoid what was promised.

“Failure to end fire and rehire and zero-hours contracts once and for all will leave more holes than Swiss cheese that hostile employers will use.”

While the Bill will give workers the right to a contract reflecting the number of hours they regularly work, it leaves room for employees who want zero-hours contracts to opt in.

Promising to push for improvements to the legislation as the bill goes through parliament, she added: “The Bill also fails to give workers the sort of meaningful rights to access a union for pay bargaining that would put more money in their pockets and, in turn, would aid growth.”

But Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said the legislation will “improve working lives for many” if delivered in full.

“After 14 years of stagnating living standards, working people desperately need secure jobs they can build a decent life on”, Mr Nowak said.

“Driving up employment standards is good for workers, good for business and good for growth. It will give workers more predictability and control and it will stop good employers from being undercut by the bad.

“While there is still detail to be worked through, this Bill signals a seismic shift away from the Tories’ low pay, low rights, low productivity economy.”

Business groups welcomed the Bill, with the CBI praising the government for engaging with business and unions. The Federation of Small Businesses was the only main business group critical of the Bill, saying: “This legislation is a rushed job, clumsy, chaotic and poorly planned – dropping 28 new measures onto small business employers all at once leaves them scrambling to make sense of it all.”

Ministers described the Employment Rights Bill as the biggest boost to pay and productivity in the workplace in a generation.

Under the new legislation, the existing two-year qualifying period for protections from unfair dismissal will be removed and workers will have the right from the first day in a job.

Former TUC president Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, told The Independent that the workers’ rights reforms will “shift the balance of power in Britain back towards workers”, saying lives will be “immeasurably improved” by the legislation.

Mr Wrack urged the government to implement the “hugely welcome” legislation without delay.

He said: “This very significant extension of workers’ rights is a huge victory for the FBU and other unions that have been at the forefront of campaigning to ensure that Labour’s New Deal for Working People is fully delivered.

“The banning of zero-hour contracts, the outlawing of fire and rehire, and other despicable working practices promoted by the Tories, are long overdue.”

However, many of the reforms will not take effect until autumn 2026, with ministers scheduling a series of consultations on the details of the plan over the course of 2025.

Some measures, such as the right to “switch off” at the end of a working day, are not in the Bill but will be included in a so-called next steps document for further consideration and consultation.

The government said the legislation is being unveiled against a backdrop of it inheriting a “battered” economy from the Conservatives.

More than twice as many days were lost to industrial action than France under Rishi Sunak’s premiership, said Labour, following more than two years of strikes by hundreds of thousands of workers including nurses, teachers, junior doctors, train drivers and barristers.

Labour said new analysis showed that the Tories’ “scorched-earth” approach to strikes over the last two years cost the economy £3.3bn in lost productivity, including £1.7bn from NHS industrial action alone.