Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that workers' rights are protected.

Protecting and enhancing workers’ rights remains a priority for this government. Over the past year, we have proven our commitment to supporting workers across the UK, including raising the national living wage in April 2022 to its highest rate yet, to help with the cost of living.

We are proud there are now more employees on the payroll than ever before, and we will continue to build a high skilled, high productivity, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work.

We remain committed to making progress and on 9 May we announced our intention to bring forward legislation which will widen the ban on exclusivity clauses, which restrict staff from working for multiple employers, to contracts where the guaranteed weekly income is equivalent to or below the Lower Earnings Limit of £123 a week.

We also announced our commitment to publishing employment status guidance to help clarify the existing status boundaries, making it easier for individuals and businesses to understand which employment rights apply to them, enhancing worker protections whilst maintaining flexibility and ensuring a level playing field within the labour market.