TUC tells government to crack on with delivering guaranteed hours contract rights “in full”

• TUC calls for full guaranteed hours rights as government consults on options
• Union body says full implementation of new rights vital to tackling the scourge of insecure work 
• Business groups arguing for rights to be scaled back are “defending a broken status quo” which has failed our economy and working people

The TUC has today (Tuesday) called on the government to get on with delivering guaranteed hours contracts rights in full after the consultation into the new measures was launched.

As part of its Plan to Make Work Pay and deliver on measures in the Employment Rights Act, the government committed to offering all workers a right to a contract which reflects their regular hours, and giving every worker notice of their shifts and compensation for cancelled shifts.

The government is consulting on the maximum number of hours a worker can have before losing entitlement to a contract that reflects their regular hours, as well as shift notice and compensation for cancelled work. 

The TUC says those rules must protect all workers from exploitation.

Union warning

The TUC warns that listening to some of the “bad faith scaremongering” on guaranteed hours could leave many workers still facing insecurity – simply raising the floor from zero hours and creating a new race to the bottom where employers offer contracts which reflect an inadequate new legal minimum.  

If the policy is not implemented in full, workers will face distorted shift allocations - employers would be incentivised to deny additional hours to the workers with the lowest hours in case they triggered their right to secure hours.

The union body adds that warnings from employers’ organisations suggesting that rogue businesses will resort to bogus self-employment rather than give guaranteed hours “speaks volumes” about their priorities and reinforces the need to take on the broken status quo.

Balance of power

Without action power imbalances in the workplace risk becoming further entrenched, the TUC has warned.

Many workers do not know how much they will earn each week, and lack of security over hours makes it hard for workers to plan their lives, budget and look after their children.

Insecure work also makes it harder for workers to challenge unacceptable behaviour by bosses because of concerns about whether they will be penalised by not being allocated hours in future.   

In the TUC’s recent post-election poll, it found that two in three (63%) people think employers have too much power over workers – that's nearly four times more than the 16% of people who think workers have too much power over employers.

Huge public support

Delivering guaranteed hours contracts is hugely popular right across the political spectrum, including with Reform voters:

Seven in ten (72%) of UK voters support this policy – including: 

• Two-thirds of Reform and Tory voters from the 2024 general election. 
• And the figure is even higher for those saying they would now vote Conservative (82%) and Reform (83%).

Only 15% of voters across the board oppose it. 

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: 

“Ministers must stand firm and crack on with delivering new rights to guaranteed hours in full.

“For too long, insecure work has held back our economy – leaving workers worried sick about not getting enough hours to pay the bills.

“Workers should know how much they’ll be earning from week to week instead of being at the whim of a bad employer who could cut shifts last minute. 

“That’s the kind of security you can build a life on. It’s vital the government ignores the bad faith scaremongering and gets on with delivering the change it promised.

“Let’s be clear. Business groups calling on the government to row back on its manifesto promises are defending a broken status quo which has failed the economy and failed working people.”

On the government’s specific proposals, Paul added:

“The government is right to stick to a 12-week reference period and to include agency workers in scope of these proposals.

“The government’s initial preferred option on the hours threshold is not the right one. All workers should have the right to a contract which reflects their regular hours.

“We will be setting out the evidence for this argument during the consultation and we expect the government to listen.

“The government must also ensure that workers whose shifts are cancelled receive full compensation – workers should not be asked to shoulder business risk.”