1MILLION ON ZERO HOURS Deals are creating a ‘sub-class’ of low-paid workers
THE number of workers stuck on zero hours deals is set to exceed one million for the first time.
Figures show last year 903,000 were on the contracts, up from 250,000 in 2013.
Business bosses say a flexible labour market, where staff are called in at a moment’s notice with a lack of fixed hours, boosts employment.
But unions say the deals have created a “sub-class” of insecure low-paid workers who have no guaranteed hours or legal protection from unfair dismissal.
Many worker s uncertain how much they will earn from week to week end up relying on housing benefit and tax credits. Office for National Statistics figures show those on zero hours get an average £7.25 an hour – £3.80 less than those in permanent jobs. Most cannot claim sick, holiday or redundancy pay. The TUC believes more than three million – one in 10 UK employees – are now doing insecure jobs such as seasonal, temporary or agency work. TUC leader Frances O’Grady said: “In the past decade, there’s been an explosion of zero-hours contracts. These dodgy contracts mean you never know what hours you’ll work, or how much cash you’ve got coming in. If you don’t know how much work you will have from one day to the next, making ends meet is a nightmare.
“The Government must update the laws protecting us at work, so bad bosses can’t keep exploiting working people.”
Part of the increase is down to the private care home sector, where the number of workers on zero-hours deals has jumped from one in 10 to one in seven over the past year.
Last year Sports Direct was shamed into offering all shop staff on zero hours at least 12 guaranteed hours a week.
One zero-hours worker – Enrique Jimenez Reyes, 28 – had no work for a month over Christmas. His boss had gone on holiday and shut the Kent restaurant where he is a waiter. He said: “I still had to pay rent to keep my house.”