The Scottish Government has called for full control over workers’ rights in Scotland as the number of people on "exploitative" insecure job contracts soared by more than 20% in a year.
Business and Fair Work Minister Tom Arthur used the development to underline the need for Holyrood to have responsibility for employment law, arguing that devolving the powers would provide the strongest long-term protection for workers.
And he has the support of the Scottish Trades Union Congress who have said that they would want the Scottish Government to take over control for employment matters from London.
The latest figures show 95,000 Scots were on zero-hours contracts between April and June this year, up from 79,000 during the same period in 2025, meaning 16,000 more people are now working without a guaranteed number of hours.
The increase comes as Labour faces pressure to deliver its pledge to ban “exploitative” zero-hours contracts, with employment law currently reserved to Westminster and Holyrood unable to introduce its own general ban.
Labour's commitment was made before the party won the UK General Election in July 2024, and leaves the number of Scots on such contracts almost double the level recorded when the UK Government first launched a review into their use in 2013.
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