![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/647f\/live\/d88ca030-4511-11ef-9bf6-a9736cd43191.jpg.webp\")
Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nYoung people working in insecure jobs have been promised a “new deal” by the government.<\/p>\n A law announced last week includes a ban on “exploitative” zero-hours contracts which allow employers to only pay staff when they need them.<\/p>\n The Employment Rights Bill will give workers the right to a contract reflecting the number of hours they regularly work. <\/p>\n It also requires bosses to give “reasonable notice” and compensation if shifts are changed or cancelled.<\/p>\n The government’s claimed the new rules will provide more security and less instability for workers.<\/p>\n But people who want to opt in to zero-hours contracts because of the flexibility they offer can still do so.<\/p>\n BBC Newsbeat spoke to young workers to find out what they think about the new legislation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n About one million UK workers are currently on zero-hours contracts.<\/p>\n Figures from thinktank the Work Foundation suggest under-25s are five times more likely to be on zero-hours contracts than older workers. <\/p>\n Fraser McGuire, 20, from Derby, works two zero-hours jobs, one at a pub and one at a hotel bar.<\/p>\n Fraser says he’d prefer contracted hours but “as a young worker, zero-hours contracts always tend to be the standard”.<\/p>\n “It can be really difficult mentally as well as obviously financially.<\/p>\n “One month, I might be able to get easily enough to make my rent and make ends meet but then the next month, I might not be able to at all.”<\/p>\n Fraser does think the changes could mean young workers feel more empowered at when it comes to standing up for their rights.<\/p>\n “If your boss sets your hours on a weekly basis you will be much less likely to stand up and challenge them than if you had a guaranteed hours contract because you don’t want to lose your income,” he says.<\/p>\n He says the new law is “a step in the right direction” but wants to know how it will be enforced. <\/p>\n “I really do wonder how they’re going to define and enforce the term ‘exploitation’,” he says.<\/p>\n “But at least even identifying those really bad employers or those really precarious situations is definitely a massive step in the right direction.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tamara Beattie has been on a zero-hours contract for more than two years since having her daughter.<\/p>\n She works for a healthcare agency and says while the flexibility helps her balance childcare, she has “no security” when it comes to paying her bills.<\/p>\n Tamara says there are weeks when she can’t pick up any shifts and has to rely on Universal Credit to supplement her income.<\/p>\n “I can’t financially support myself just on the amount of hours that I get,” Tamara says, adding that it’s had an impact on her mental health.<\/p>\n “I like being able to provide for myself and for my daughter and I can’t do that because a lot of workplaces don’t offer the hours that I need around my little girl.”<\/p>\n Tamara, who lives in Fife, welcomes the new legislation but says people will still need options like zero-hours contracts unless more is done to support working parents.<\/p>\n “It’s only good if they’re going to implement other things in workplaces like making sure employers are family friendly,” she says.<\/p>\n “Unless I can find something that’s a lot more flexible, I’m gonna find it really difficult to find more hours.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Major unions Unite and Unison have welcomed the bill, with the GMB union saying it will “make a big difference to the lives of working people”.<\/p>\n But the Independent Workers\u2019 union of Great Britain (IWGB), says their members have been overlooked.<\/p>\n It represents some gig economy workers, such as Uber and Deliveroo drivers, who aren’t explicitly mentioned in the new bill. <\/p>\n Because they are seen as self-employed, they aren’t entitled to benefits such as holiday and sick pay.<\/p>\n General secretary Henry Chango Lopez says this makes them “some of the most precarious and exploited in society, lacking the most basic rights and remaining unsupported by legislation”.<\/p>\n The Trades Union Congress (TUC) estimates more than 4m people in England and Wales work in the gig economy.<\/p>\n Tim Sharp, the TUC’s senior employment rights officer, tells BBC Newsbeat because it’s a “disparate workforce” working across so many areas, they can be “hard to reach”.<\/p>\n But there are some workers in the sector, including Uber drivers, who have been able to gain some of those rights after taking their cases to court<\/a>.<\/p>\n Henry, from the IWGB, says this puts the responsibility on people working in the gig economy to get better conditions rather than the government. <\/p>\n But the TUC says some of the measures set to be introduced by the new government, such as the right to organise, could help “all precarious workers”.<\/p>\n “There’s a clear intention to help them develop a collective voice,” says Tim, adding: “There are still huge barriers to trade unions organising.<\/p>\n “What we hope and expect is that some barriers will be lowered.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Fraser](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/edf2\/live\/cbb58c70-4514-11ef-8f20-5763707ea6e6.jpg.webp\")
Fraser McGuire<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Tamara](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/27ca\/live\/5fc74340-44f7-11ef-b9f5-adf0805847e7.jpg.webp\")
Tamara Beattie<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘Barriers will be lowered’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8366\/live\/74a706f0-15d7-11ef-9b12-1ba8f95c4917.jpg.webp\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n