Employers should end abuses of the employment rights system, the government has warned.

Increasing numbers of temporary workers are losing out on rights granted to people with permanent status and on Friday DTI minister Alan Johnson highlighted growing government concern.

He used a TUC conference on "atypical workers" to set out possible ways to end a series of anomalies hitting many in Britain's workforce.

Currently a legal distinction means people classed as workers have less permanent status than those classed as employees.

This includes agency workers, casuals, home workers, freelancers and even other groups such as seafarers, the clergy and some civil servants.

They have no legal right to unfair dismissal protection or "family friendly" rights such as maternity and paternity leave.

The department is continuing with a review of UK employment status and will be lobbying for changes at EU level at a meeting about agency workers by social affairs ministers in Luxembourg next week.

"We would accept an EU directive that provides extra protection for long-term agency workers, but the directive must not put opportunities at risk, particularly those that might prevent people getting work," said a DTI spokesman.

"The availability of work is essential to fight social exclusion and we are working very hard to make sure the directive does not put UK jobs at risk.

British union leaders have lobbied for an "all rights/all workers" series of laws but officials warn that in the current business climate reliant on global investment this is not going to happen.

"We are looking seriously at employment status and whether there are problems with present system but throughout our review we want to balance employment rights with full employment and keeping options open for people who want to work flexibly," said the DTI.

Johnson highlighted the growing use of agency workers by firms but defended it as a way of getting people back into the workplace.

"It is very important that agency workers are protected. That is why we regulate employment agencies and why we have employment agency standards inspectors," said the spokesman.