Welby’s bishops offer zero-hours jobs

Cathedrals advertise posts on controversial contracts that were called ‘evil’ by Archbishop of Canterbury

AT LEAST two Church of England cathedrals are advertising for staff on zero-hours contracts, days after Justin Welby called such deals “evil”.

Job adverts posted by Gloucester and Norwich cathedrals offer roles under the contracts, which the Archbishop of Canterbury described to the TUC conference on Wednesday as “the reincarnation of an ancient evil”.

Gloucester’s advert, for a cathedral porter earning £8.75 an hour, notes the work will “mostly be evenings and weekends”.

The role is described as: “Working on a flexible basis in order to provide a high quality of support to clergy, hirers and other users and to support the Cathedral’s ministry of welcome to all.”

Norwich’s advert is for a “Refectory Assistant (Temporary and Casual)”. It seeks “an enthusiastic, self-motivated individual, with demonstrable catering experience and excellent organisational and barista skills, to join the Refectory team as a Refectory Assistant. This is a casual zero-hours post where we hope to build up a team of reliable people who can be rostered accordingly.”

Te Diocese of London’s website states zero-hours contracts have had “a lot of bad press”, “particularly where some employers have been using them unfairly”. It adds that, “if used properly and fairly by ensuring that both parties have the ability to reject work and also allowing individuals to work elsewhere when they are not doing work for you, they can be a useful tool.” Individual cathedrals and dioceses organise staffing independently of the Archbishop or the national church.

The Dean of Norwich, the Very Rev Jane Hedges, said: “At Norwich Cathedral zero-hours contracts are given to staff who choose them because it suits their lifestyle: for example, students and people who are retired and want a flexible part-time job.”

A spokesman for the Diocese of London said: “We agree with the Archbishop that zero-hours contracts can be abused to exploit workers. Our guidance to parishes, which has been designed in line with Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development guidance, makes it clear that a zerohours contract may be appropriate when the work is ad-hoc or casual.

“The guidance stipulates that both parties should have the ability to reject work and that individuals should be able to work elsewhere.”

A spokesman for the Archbishop said he “made clear his views on zerohours contracts yesterday”.

Last night it emerged that the Church has said it will keep shares in Amazon, despite the Archbishop saying it was “leeching off the taxpayer”.