Labour will ban bosses employing regular staff on zero-hours contracts for any longer than 12 weeks . Ed Miliband said it was 'not good enough ' for millions of workers not to know how many hours they would be working from one week to the next . He said a Labour government would give workers the right to demand a 'regular contract if they do regular hours ' after three months . Scroll down for video . Labour party leader Ed Miliband announced the zero-hours contract ban to workers at David Brown Gear Systems in Huddersfield this morning . Mr Miliband said it was 'not good enough ' for millions of workers not to know how many hours they would be working from one week to the next . Mr Miliband 's announcement comes after David Cameron struggled to say if he could live on a zero-hours contract after being grilled by Jeremy Paxman last week . In an interview with BBC Breakfast this morning , Mr Miliband said : 'If it 's not good enough for us , I do n't think it is good enough for the people of Britain , and that 's why we have got to make this change . ' Mr Miliband said there had been an 'epidemic ' of zero-hours contracts under the Coalition and dismissed fears scrapping them could force companies to lay off staff . It is estimated there are now 1.8million contracts in the UK that do not guarantee any hours – with as many as one in seven jobs now zero-hours . ONS data shows that 58 per cent of people on zero-hours contracts have been with their current employer for over a year , and that workers on the contracts work 23 hours a week on average . Mr Miliband said workers should be given the right after 12 weeks to demand ' a regular contract if they do regular hours ' . He said : ' I think it goes right to the heart of the election campaign . I do n't believe we can build a successful country when working people are facing that kind of insecurity . 'There is an issue about the number of hours , but there is also an issue about the unpredictability of the hours . That 's the insecurity people face . ' The Labour Party leader arrived in Yorkshire this morning for a question and answer session with workers on the second full-day of the campaign . He said most businesses did not use zero-hours contracts , but added : 'The trouble is for some businesses this has become the primary way that they employ people and I do n't think it 's the right way forward for our country . 'Zero hour contracts are just one example of the insecurity of our economy and what has happened over the last five years . David Cameron says it has all been a great success – I 'll let the British people be the judge of that . ' The Tories have already announced that it would ban exclusivity clauses which stop staff on zero-hours contracts from working for other companies . Under Labour 's plan , workers will also be entitled to compensation if shifts are cancelled at short notice . The proposal goes well beyond the recommendations made by the former Morrisons exec Norman Pickavance in an independent review for Labour . He said workers should have a right to request a regular contract after six months ' continuous employment and to be given one after 12 months . Critics have warned that company bosses could dismiss staff just before the right to a full contract kicks in . It also risks undermining Britain 's flexible labour market which economists claim is behind the recent jobs boom . Jeremy Paxman grilled David Cameron over the number of zero-hours contracts in the UK workforce . But Mr Miliband told Labour activists later today : 'The problem of zero-hours contracts is at the heart of the key question in this election : who does our country work for ? 'Does it work just for the rich and the powerful ? Or does it work for working people – the people looking for a job , trying to find enough money to support a family , to make ends meet ? ' Christian May , of the Institute of Directors said zero-hours contracts were used by just ' 2 per cent of workers ' which he said could 'hardly be described as an epidemic ' . He added : 'Nobody supports the misuse of these contracts , but demonising and ultimately outlawing them will simply risk jobs and undermine a labour market that has made us the envy of Europe . ' John Cridland , CBI director-general , added : 'The UK 's flexible jobs market has given us an employment rate that is the envy of other countries , so proposals to limit flexible contracts to 12 weeks are wide of the mark . 'Of course action should be taken to tackle abuses , but demonising flexible contracts is playing with the jobs that many firms and many workers value and need . 'These proposals run the risk of a return to day-to-day hiring in parts of the economy , with lower stability for workers and fewer opportunities for people to break out of low pay . ' But TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said 'We need a fairer system that guarantees zero-hours workers decent rights at work and stops them from being treated like second-class employees . '
Labour leader said it 's 'not good enough ' for staff not to have regular pay . He said workers should get the right to a regular contract after 3 months . Comes after the PM struggled to say if he could live on zero-hours contract .