ALMOST two million workers in Britain are suffering insecurity in their jobs, the TUC has warned.

At least 1.8m workers have few rights of work, no entitlement to redundancy pay, no protection from unfair dismissal and no maternity rights. Many more are denied rights because their bosses wrongly classify them as self-employed.

The TUC publishes its findings today before the government’s response to the Taylor review of modern employment practices due this week.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The insecure work free-for-all has to end. Agency workers are being treated like second-class citizens, getting less pay for the same work. And zero-hours contracts leave many workers unable to plan childcare or budget for their weekly shop.

“This will be a real test of Theresa May’s government. Does she even have a domestic agenda any more? Or has her government been totally hijacked by Brexit infighting?”

The TUC is calling on the government to ban zero-hours contracts, ensure equal pay for agency workers, crack down on bogus self-employment and increase resources and powers for enforcement.

It said “dodgy employers” should have “nowhere to hide.”

Royal Society of Arts head Matthew Taylor said in his review published in July 2017 that workers should have a right to request fixed hours and permanent contracts. He said companies should be required to disclose how they have responded to such requests.

Mr Taylor also said claimed there was nothing wrong with zero and low-hours contracts if they provide flexibility to workers as well as employers.