Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts was 0.375 0-6 scale in 2025. ▲ Rising
Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in United Kingdom, 1985–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in 0-6 scale.
Analysis
The most recent figure for strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in United Kingdom is 0.375 0-6 scale, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 41 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in United Kingdom peaked at 0.375 0-6 scale in 2003 and was at its lowest, 0.25 0-6 scale, in 1985.
United Kingdom ranks 39th of 41 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 41 years of available data.
Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts in United Kingdom, year by year
| Year | 0-6 scale | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 0.25 0-6 scale | — |
| 1986 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.25 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +50.0% |
| 2004 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 0.375 0-6 scale | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.25 0-6 scale | 0.25 0-6 scale | 0.25 0-6 scale | 5 |
| 1990s | 0.25 0-6 scale | 0.25 0-6 scale | 0.25 0-6 scale | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.3375 0-6 scale | 0.25 0-6 scale | 0.375 0-6 scale | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.375 0-6 scale | 0.375 0-6 scale | 0.375 0-6 scale | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.375 0-6 scale | 0.375 0-6 scale | 0.375 0-6 scale | 6 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom
- 36 Ireland 0.625 0-6 scale compare
- 36 Iceland 0.625 0-6 scale compare
- 38 South Africa 0.5 0-6 scale compare
- 40 Canada 0.25 0-6 scale compare
- 40 United States 0.25 0-6 scale compare
More work & labour data for United Kingdom
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 22,956 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 60.91 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 35,770 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 57.91 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 1.47 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.4352 % change on previous year (2027)
- Legislation on sexual harassment in employment 1 (1=yes; 0=no) (2023)
- Criminal sanctions or compensation for workplace sexual harassment 1 (1=yes; 0=no) (2023)
- Women can take the same jobs as men 1 (1=yes; 0=no) (2023)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) 61.4% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in United Kingdom?
- Strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts in United Kingdom was 0.375 0-6 scale in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts recorded in United Kingdom?
- The highest recorded value was 0.375 0-6 scale in 2003.
- What is the lowest strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts recorded in United Kingdom?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.25 0-6 scale in 1985.
- How does United Kingdom rank for strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts?
- United Kingdom ranks 39th out of 41 countries with data for 2025.
- Is strictness of employment protection — temporary contracts rising or falling in United Kingdom?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 41 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
The OECD indicators of employment protection are synthetic indicators of the strictness of regulation on dismissals and the use of temporary contracts. For each year, indicators refer to regulation in force on the 1st of January. For more information and full methodology, see OECD Indicators of Employment Protection webpage Last data update: May 2022 OECD statistics contact: ELS.Contact@oecd.org