End exploitation: Banning zero-hours contracts

The Government proposal to outlaw zero-hour contracts, low-hour and banded hours employment deals is to be welcomed.

These unsustainable developments represented a new low in worker exploitation and have no place in a society that aspires to fairness and social cohesion.

Four industries — retail, hospitality, education and health — regularly use these contracts and leave workers in an uncertain, unprotected limbo where it is impossible to plan a life or a family in a meaningful way.