Member

Turning to Amendment 2, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, I have also listened to the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Wolfson. The road map that we published set out our commitment to introduce a phased basis for implementation, to allow businesses to prepare. For example, ending the exploitative use of zero-hours contracts will not be introduced until 2027. The hours threshold is a vital part of the novel right to guaranteed hours and it is important that we get this right. The hours threshold is designed in part as an anti-avoidance measure, as it will prevent employers moving workers from zero-hours contracts to contracts guaranteeing a very small number of hours to avoid the duty of making a guaranteed-hours offer. Workers guaranteed a very small number of hours might experience one-sided flexibility in the same way as a zero-hours worker.