UNIONS have urged Labour to ensure that the Employments Rights Bill has “watertight secondary legislation” when it returns to Parliament next week to avoid loopholes for unscrupulous employers.

The TUC stressed that “insecure and undervalued” night workers need the stronger protections proposed in the legislation ahead of the clocks going back today.

Secondary legislation is law made by ministers used to fill in the details of the primary act.

Research by the union federation shows that nearly 200,000 of some three million employees across the country that regularly do night work are on zero-hours contracts.

This makes night workers nearly twice as likely to be employed on these than the general population, leaving them facing significant health risks, fatigue, deterioration of family and social relations, and safety risks.

Black workers are also more than twice as likely to do night work compared to white counterparts, according to the TUC’s analysis of the Labour Force Survey.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Despite putting their health on the line, many lack the protections they need and are stuck on low pay and zero-hours contracts which hand almost total power over hours and earnings to bosses.  

“Banning zero-hours contracts and compensating workers for cancelled shifts are just some of the ways in which the Employment Rights Bill will make a real difference to the lives of many night workers. 

“All politicians must now do what it takes to pass the Bill in full as soon as possible, so that workers across the country can start benefiting from its transformative measures.

“That includes ensuring the secondary legislation is watertight so there are no loopholes for bad bosses to exploit.”