In its public consultation on zero hours contracts, the Government identified exclusivity clauses, which allow an employer to ensure a worker cannot undertake work for another employer, as being a particular problem associated with the contract type.
Business secretary Vince Cable plans to close the loophole that allows for such conditions to be placed on employees, and draft legislation that will ban exclusivity clauses has recently been published.
The loophole currently allows employers to prevent their casual staff from working for another employer, despite the fact that zero hours employees are not guaranteed any work.
Following the draft legislation in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, which is currently under consideration by Parliament, low paid staff with few guaranteed hours of weekly work are also set to benefit.
However, the general consensus among respondents to the public consultation on zero hours contracts was that even if a ban on exclusivity clauses is introduced employers would still find a way to sidestep the rules.
Many respondents suggested that employers could offer their workers a minimum number of guaranteed hours, even as low as one hour per week, to sidestep the rules and avoid any legal repercussions.
Amidst these fears, the Government has decided to introduce a threshold, for employers to follow, that takes both hours and income into account.
The threshold based on hours and income is included in the draft Zero Hours Workers (Exclusivity Terms) Regulations 2015.
While no date has been set for the introduction of the legislation, any workers on zero hours contracts should soon benefit from the new rules.