More than 1m UK workers to gain more rights under employment bill, says thinktank

The proposed ban on zero-hours contracts is due to become law in stages over the next two years. Photograph: Stephen Chung/Alamy

Employers will be forced to offer more secure terms to more than a million workers if the employment bill going through parliament is implemented, according to research by a leading thinktank.

The Work Foundation said analysis of 2023-24 data calculating the impact of a ban on zero-hours contracts and “day one” compensation after unfair dismissal – which are two key elements of the employment rights bill – showed 1.2 million workers would have been protected from “severe insecurity” in the workplace.