TORY attempts to derail the Employment Rights Bill are “ignoring the evidence in front of their eyes,” the TUC has said.

The economic costs of the “insecure work epidemic” are today laid bare in a new report by the union federation.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed the landmark workers’ rights Bill is “destroying growth” and will cost businesses £5 billion a year.

But new TUC analysis reveals that hundreds of thousands of workers are stuck on zero-hours contracts for years on end, with warnings that this is “holding workers and the economy back.” 

Stronger rights at work and higher growth rates go hand in hand by driving up labour market participation, improving health, raising productivity and boosting demand after the biggest squeeze in living standards in 200 years, the federation added.

Recent reports on McDonald’s alleging widespread sexual harassment and bullying — where nine in 10 workers are on a zero-hours contract — are also a “stark reminder of how insecure work and workplace abuses can go hand in hand,” said the TUC.

Its general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Zero-hours contracts give bosses almost total control of workers’ earning power and hours — making it a nightmare for families to plan budgets and childcare. 

“As we have seen with recent scandals, these precarious contracts make it far too easy for managers to bully and harass staff frightened about losing shifts. 

“I would challenge any boss to try and survive for a few months on a zero-hours contract not knowing from week to week how much work they will have — let alone a decade. 

“After 14 years of Conservative decline, the era of low rights, low pay and low productivity has been tested to destruction. 

“Those defending the broken status quo are putting their own vested interests ahead of working people’s lives and ignoring the evidence in front of their eyes. 

“This insecure work epidemic isn’t just holding back workers, it’s holding back our economy too.”

He said the Bill’s crackdown on zero-hours contracts will help deliver a “much-needed economic reset.” 

The TUC analysis found that two in three on the insecure contracts have been with their employer for over 12 months — and one in eight for more than a decade.

Recent polling has shown 84 per cent of zero-hours contract workers want regular hours of work.