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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what safeguards his Department has put in place to protect people employed on zero-hours contracts from exploitation by their employers.

This Government is clear that zero hours contracts should not be considered as an alternative to proper business planning or used as a permanent arrangement if it is not justifiable. They play a small but important part in the labour market, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals. People on zero-hour contracts make up less than 3 per cent of the workforce and almost 70 per cent are happy with the number of hours they work, according to the latest ONS Labour Force Survey research (March 2015).

In May 2015 Government banned the use of exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts so that people cannot be prevented from looking for or working elsewhere when their employer does not guarantee work.

Matthew Taylor in his Review of Modern Working Practices has proposed some reforms around zero-hour contracts and Government will consider the whole report carefully and make a full response later this year.