Ed Miliband to attack Sports Direct as a 'bad place to work'

The Labour leader says he is determined to ban zero-hours contracts that exploit workers

Ed Miliband has stepped up his attack on zero-hours contracts (Reuters)

Ed Miliband is expected to single out high street chain Sports Direct as a “bad place to work” in his latest assault on zero-hours contracts.

The Labour leader will step up his attack on firms using what he will say are “Victorian practices” to exploit staff, leaving them without guaranteed hours.

Mr Miliband will say at a speech in Coventry: “Sports Direct has predictable turnover, it is a modern company with stores on many high streets and, judging by its success, where many people shop.

”But for too many of its employees, Sports Direct is a bad place to work.

“This is not about exceptional use of zero-hours contracts for short term or seasonal work which some employers and workers may find convenient.

This is the way Sports Direct employs the vast majority of its workforce. These Victorian practices have no place in the 21st Century.”

He said a Labour government would ban the exploitation of zero-hours contracts and give workers on them extra legal rights, including the ability to demand a regular contract for regular hours.

The Opposition has also promised workers the right to refuse demands that they are available around the clock and access to compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice.

Mr Miliband is expected to say: ”A graphic symbol of what is wrong with the way this country is run is the army of people working on zero-hours contracts with no security while a few people at the top get away with paying zero tax.

“This zero-zero economy shows we live in a deeply unequal, deeply unfair, deeply unjust country run for a few at the top, not for most people. It is a country I am determined to change.”

Sports Direct did not comment on Mr Miliband's attack, but did highlight the “major changes” being made to their zero-hours contracts aft legal action by former employee Zahera Gabriel-Abraham.

She took the firm to an employment tribunal in a claim for sex discrimination, unfair treatment and breach of holiday rights.

Under a settlement agreed between the firm and lawyers Leigh Day, job adverts will be re-written and employment contracts for future zero-hours staff will make it clear that work is not guaranteed.

A spokesman for Sports Direct said: ”The company will continue the process of reviewing, updating and improving our core employment documents and procedures across our entire business beyond its existing compliant framework.“

Business and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said Mr Miliband was not announcing any new policies to tackle zero-hours abuse and insisted the Government was already taking action.

He said: ”Another rehashed policy from Ed Miliband can't hide the fact that he still hasn't got an economic plan to secure a better future for Britain. He's just not up to the job.

“We're already tackling the abuse of zero-hours contracts – after 13 years of Labour doing absolutely nothing about it. And Labour authorities continue to use them – even Ed Miliband's own Doncaster Council have admitted using 300 people on zero-hours contracts.

”All Labour offers is more spending, more borrowing and more taxes, which would make people on low pay worse off.“

Additional reporting by Press Association