Companies could be banned from imposing exclusivity on zero hours contracts which offer no guarantee of work and stop employees from working for another company, under new proposals announced by Business Secretary Vince Cable. These measures come as part of efforts to boost fairness for workers.

According to the latest Workplace Employment Relations Study, the recession has had a profound impact on Britain's workplaces.

Only 4% of employers reported that they had reduced their use of agency workers in direct response to the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR), according to on-going analysis of the impact of the one-year-old rules conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

Debt and financial concerns are forcing new mothers to return to work and could result in modern day mums losing the choice over whether to work or stay at home, according to a new study by uSwitch.com.