MORE than a million workers a year will be protected from “severe insecurity” by the Employment Rights Bill, but 14 million more would in secure jobs if the legislation had been enacted two years ago, according to research published today.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said “let’s get this over the line” after the Work Foundation think tank calculated that 1.2 million would have benefited from its ban on zero-hours contracts and introduction of compensation for unfair dismissal from “day one” in 2023-24.

The report adds that, had these measures been in place in 2023, the number of workers in secure jobs would have risen by 3.9 million to 17.8 million.

The zero-hours ban and measures to prevent fire and rehire are due to become law in stages over the next two years amid resistance from business lobbying.

Work Foundation director Ben Harrison said: “Strengthening workers’ rights is a critical step towards delivering better living standards for working people across the UK.

“And while it is right that the government engages extensively to ensure new measures are workable for workers and employers, ministers must not trade away the benefits of the Bill.

“Excessive delays in being able to access new rights risks significantly reducing the number of workers who will benefit from them at any given time.

“What might be characterised as small details are in reality big choices for ministers, with significant implications for working people.”

Based on 2023-24 data, the report found that 92.5 per cent of zero-hours contract workers would have benefitted from the new right to guaranteed hours had it been in place two years ago.

That equates to about one million people, with 7.5 per cent missing out as they had worked for their employer for less than the three-month qualifying period.

Mr Nowak said: “This Bill can be a game-changer for millions stuck in vulnerable and insecure employment. It’s vital that it is delivered in full.

“Giving workers proper rights from day one and clamping down on exploitative practices like zero-hours contracts will bring Britain closer to the standards working people already enjoy in other countries.

“These common-sense reforms are incredibly popular with the public and will give people the security and respect they deserve at work. They will also stop decent employers from being undercut by the bad.”