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  "path": "/money/labour-zero-hours-crackdown-youth-unemployment",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-03T06:27:11.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "HMRC shake-up to create 'unwelcome' tax obstacles for 'grieving families'",
    "Pension blow as parents sacrifice retirement savings to fund children's university costs",
    "Iceland announces major overhaul after raising prices faster than supermarket rivals",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nBusiness leaders have accused Labour of risking the exclusion of young people from the labour market after publishing sweeping proposals to restrict zero-hours contracts.\n\nConsultation documents released on Tuesday outlined plans for a 12-week reference period that would determine the guaranteed hours employers must offer workers.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIndustry leaders warned the timeframe could distort normal working patterns because it may capture unusually busy periods such as the Christmas rush.\n\nThe criticism comes as youth unemployment has climbed to 16.2 per cent, its highest level in more than a decade according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAround 1.2 million workers currently hold zero-hours contracts, while approximately 2.7 million people work 16 hours or fewer each week.\n\nUnder the Employment Rights Act, businesses would be required to provide contracts with guaranteed hours to workers on zero-hours or low-hours arrangements.\n\nLabour’s consultation asks whether workers regularly employed for up to 20 hours a week should qualify for the protections, while ministers are also seeking views on increasing the threshold to as much as 40 hours.\n\nOnce the reference period establishes a worker’s typical hours, employers would be expected to offer equivalent shifts throughout the remainder of the year regardless of fluctuations in demand.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe proposals, which were originally championed by former deputy leader Angela Rayner, would also require employers to provide reasonable notice for shift allocations, alterations and cancellations.\n\nEmployers who cancel, move or shorten shifts with less than four weeks’ notice could face compensation costs worth up to 80 per cent of the worker’s lost earnings.\n\nJohn Foster of the Confederation of British Industry described the proposed 12-week reference period as \"wholly unworkable\" and warned the changes \"have the potential to reshape working patterns right across the economy\".\n\nHe said the measures \"risk reducing work opportunities, making overtime non-viable and discouraging employers from offering shifts that many workers actively want\".\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * HMRC shake-up to create 'unwelcome' tax obstacles for 'grieving families'\n  * Pension blow as parents sacrifice retirement savings to fund children's university costs\n  * Iceland announces major overhaul after raising prices faster than supermarket rivals\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nShadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: \"This consultation risks ending the role of seasonal and temporary workers in the labour market.\"\n\nMr Griffith added that young people would suffer most from the changes at the same time ministers claim they are trying to reduce the number of people outside education, employment or training.\n\nNeil Carberry of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation said he was disappointed the Government had \"drifted so far from the original proposals agreed by businesses and unions\".\n\nKate Nicholls, chairman of UKHospitality, urged ministers to extend the reference period to 26 weeks because hospitality businesses would be particularly affected by the reforms.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nShe warned: \"There is a danger that over-regulating flexible work actually increases work instability, rather than decreasing it.\"\n\nHelen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said retail remained a vital entry point into employment for hundreds of thousands of young workers each year.\n\nShe said: \"With over a million young people out of work or education, Government cannot afford to get this wrong.\"\n\nBen Willmott of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development warned that excessively burdensome regulations could encourage employers to rely more heavily on self-employed contractors and fixed-term arrangements.\n\nHe said the changes could ultimately create more precarious forms of employment rather than reducing insecurity in the labour market.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Labour's zero-hours contract ban could make youth unemployment crisis worse, business leaders warn"
}