Economy Minister Conor Murphy is expected to propose a ban on zero-hour contracts in the North of Ireland.
Mr Murphy will outline the details in a statement to the Stormont Assembly today, Monday, July 1.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has also promised to end “exploitative” zero-hour contracts and “one-sided flexibility” if it wins this week’s General Election.
Labour’s measures would not automatically apply in the North as employment law is largely devolved.
Zero-hour contracts allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of the hours they will work.
They are mainly used in the hospitality and retail sectors.
There was a previous attempt to reform zero-hour contracts in the North when Sinn Féin MLA Jemma Dolan brought forward a private members bill in 2021.
It did not provide for an outright ban on the contracts but proposed a right to request banded hours to provide certainty regarding the number of hours that a worker could typically expect to receive.
It is not yet clear if Mr Murphy’s proposals will take a similar approach.
He is due to announce a range of other employment law reforms.
During scrutiny of Ms Dolan’s bill, MLAs heard that an estimated 11,000 workers, representing approximately 1.3% of the North’s workforce, were covered by zero-hour contracts.
Some stakeholders suggested that this figure may be higher given that many workers employment status may not be recognised as a zero-hour contract.
