A BID to abolish insecure work and plug legal loopholes used to exploit of gig economy workers is set to be debated in the House of Lords today.

The Status of Workers Bill, introduced by Labour peer and Institute of Employment Rights (IER) chair John Hendy QC, aims to end anomalies that allow employers to duck tax and employment law obligations.

As the law stands, only workers classed as employees are covered by Britain’s limited employment protections.

Those classed as “limb (b) workers” — many on zero-hours contracts or in the gig economy — have access only to the most basic rights, while those classed as self-employed have no employment rights at all.

The Bill, backed by Labour and the TUC, would create a single status of “worker,” which would remove employers’ ability to staff their organisations with limb (b) workers who have no redundancy rights or protection against unfair dismissal.

It would also place the onus on bosses to prove that those described as self-employed should not be classed as workers in the event of a dispute over their status.

According to the IER, the Bill would stop firms such as Sports Direct from sacking agency warehouse workers for being ill, or the likes of Uber misleading drivers into believing they were self-employed when they were entitled to the minimum wage, holiday pay and breaks.

Labour’s shadow employment rights and protections secretary Andy McDonald said: “Millions of workers are denied basic employment rights and protections by a complex and exploitative system.

“This Bill would go a long way to delivering a new deal for working people that ensures all workers have the flexibility they want and the security they deserve.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It’s a disgrace that millions of workers are the victims of inadequate labour laws which have more holes in them than Swiss cheese.

“Passing this Bill is an absolute necessity for Britain’s workers and MPs and those in the House of Lords ought to recognise that.”

Lord Hendy said: “Times of economic hardship and recession are known to accelerate the growth of precarious work, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is no exception.

“We have already seen several major retailers fall into the hands of employers known for using insecure contracts.

“Without urgent action, we can expect to see even more workers in the extraordinary position of never knowing when they will be working or how much they will earn, still less how much they will be paid — or when.

“For years, this state of affairs has been justified in the name of ‘flexibility’ but there will be nothing to prevent employers from negotiating flexible conditions with their workers under the terms of this Bill.”