Angela Rayner and Jonathan Reynolds hold talks with unions, vowing to push through workers’ rights reform despite fears it will hurt the economy

Angela Rayner will hold fresh talks with unions and business bosses today as she tries to push through Labour’s controversial employment rights reforms.

Deputy Prime Minister and Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds will host the latest in a series of events on government reforms.

This afternoon they will discuss their plans with the general secretaries of the UK’s largest trade unions, as well as leading figures from the Confederation of British Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses.

The talks are set to focus on Labour’s promise to end “exploitative” hourly contracts, which is part of the government’s planned “New Deal for Working People”.

The sweeping reforms are expected to be included in a workers’ rights bill to be introduced within the party’s first 100 days in office.

But there are fears the package will hit the economy as Conservatives have condemned Labour’s “French” proposals.

The government’s plans also include giving workers the “right to opt out” of bosses’ communications outside working hours, banning “fire and rehire” practices and strengthening the power of trade unions.

Amid the negative response from businesses, critics are warning against burdening companies with more bureaucracy and hampering economic growth.

Ahead of the general election, the Labour Party pledged in its manifesto to ban “exploitative hourly contracts” as part of its wider “Make Work Pay” programme.

The party has said it will consult businesses and unions on its plans before passing the bill, a process it began last month.

Today’s meeting was attended by TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak, the General Secretaries of Unison, Usdaw, NASUWT and Community trade unions, CBI Chief Executive Rain Newton-Smith and FSB Policy and Advocacy Chair Tina McKenzie.

A Department of Business and Trade spokesman said: “This Government has set out an ambitious plan to bring workers’ rights into line with the demands of the modern economy and make work pay.

It is about ensuring that those who want to work flexibly can do so, while at the same time ending unilateral flexibility and exploitative zero-hours contracts.

“We will work with businesses to ensure that employees have contracts that reflect the hours they regularly work, while also giving them the option to remain on a zero-hours contract if they feel it suits them.”

According to the Office for National Statistics, it is estimated that around one million people in the UK work on zero-hours contracts, representing 3.1 per cent of the workforce.

In August, a TUC survey found that the majority of workers on zero-hours contracts would like to move to regular hours.

Today’s meeting is not expected to produce any major announcements.

Earlier this week it emerged that Ms Rayner and Mr Reynolds were divided over plans to give employees full employment rights from day one.

It was reported that there was a conflict between the spouses over the issue of trial periods for new employees.