New rights for workers on zero-hours contracts will be outlined by the Labour leader later today.
The proposals are based on an independent report into the contracts.
The plans could include compensation if shifts are cancelled at short notice, and being free to work for other employers.
Also, employers would have to offer a fixed contract after an employee has spend 12 months on a zero-hours contract.
Speaking in Motherwell, Scotland, Ed Miliband (pictured) will say that the contracts are incompatible with creating “a loyal, skilled and productive workforce”.
According to HR Magazine, he plans to say: “It has left too many people not knowing how they will make ends meet… and unable to plan for the future,”
Report author Norman Pickavence, former HR director of supermarket Morrisons, accepted that the contracts can be useful for people “approaching retirement or fitting work between studies” but warned that they are “wide open to abuse”.
Previous research has shown that a quarter of healthcare professionals in the UK are employed on zero hours contracts, which have no guaranteed shifts or work patterns.
