‘Hypocrite’ – chorister hits out at Archbishop over zero hours ‘evil’

and decided to make his comments to the TUC anyway, or he’s ignorant about what is going on in his own organisation – neither possibility is a good one.”

Mr Mudge added that it was fair to say that the Archbishop didn’t have the power to order cathedrals or Church of England units like Bath Abbey not to use zero-hours contracts.

“The Church of England isn’t a topdown organisation in the usual kind of way. Places like Bath Abbey are responsible for their own governance, and they make their own decisions about employment practices.”

Mr Mudge passed to us a copy of a “master” zero-hours contract from Bath Abbey relating to guides and welcomers which states at the top: “Employment Contract – Zero Hours Employee”.

A clause relating to working hours states: “Your working hours are casual (as and when required. As discussed with your line manager).”

A Church of England spokeswoman said: “In recent years churches and cathedrals have used flexible contracts – including zero-hours contracts – in specific situations.

“Where used it has been done so in a strictly regulated way, respecting the rights of all parties and in strict accordance with employment law.

“Contracts of this nature are typically held at a local and diocesan level rather than at national level and it is the Church of England’s practice at a national level to encourage churchrelated bodies to move away from their use wherever possible and we are continuing to keep this under review.”

Frank Mowat, Bath Abbey’s executive director said: “In recent years, we have used zero-hours contracts where it has been appropriate for some members of staff who perform ad-hoc or casual work.

“Alongside this, we also employ numerous staff on various other contracts i.e. permanent and fixed term, full-time and part-time. While zero hours suits some of our staff, we are in agreement with the Archbishop that zero-hours contracts can be abused, and we would not advocate using this in lieu of permanent contracts.

“The wellbeing and welfare of our staff is important to us. It is our standard practice to regularly review all employment contracts, so that the rights of all parties are reflected, and we will continue to do so.”