The government has banned the use of exclusivity clauses in zero-hours contracts. The ban, which was proposed by Vince Cable, business secretary in the previous government, came into force on 26 May under s 153 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. It stops employers from preventing hourly staff from working for other employers. However, employment lawyers have criticised the measure as “toothless” since workers have no way of taking action against employers who break its terms.