Zero hours workers up by 20% in a year

Union dismay at 750,000 contracts

HUNDREDS of thousands of British workers are now stuck on ‘exploitative’ zero hours contracts following an explosion in ‘pay as you go’ employment, official figures reveal.

There are now almost 750,000 on contracts which give them no guaranteed work, after the number shot up by a fifth in the last 12 months.

Unions said employers were looking for a cheap way to hire staff as the economy recovered. But businesses argue the contracts play a crucial role in helping them cope with busier periods, and insist many workers prefer the flexibility of not being obliged to work set hours.

Economists said the increase suggested the contracts were becoming embedded in the labour market rather than being a temporary post-recession phenomenon.

The number of workers on zero hours contracts has increased from 624,000 in April to June 2014 to 744,000 this year.

Those working under these terms in their main job now represent 2.4 per cent of the workforce, up from 2 per cent a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said.

The ONS said workers on zero hours are more likely to be women, the oldest and youngest workers and students in fulltime education.

Research published by The Trades Union Congress shows the average weekly earnings for zero hours workers are £188, compared to £479 for permanent workers.

Two-fifths of these staff also earn less than £ 111 a week, meaning they do not qualify for statutory sick pay. Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: ‘Zero hours contracts are a stark reminder of Britain’s two-tier workforce.

‘I challenge any minister or business leader to survive on a lowpaid zero hours contract job, not knowing from one day to the next how much work they will have.’

Experts claim the agree-

‘Brings deep insecurity’

ments allow some sectors, particularly retail and food, to respond quickly to changes in supply and demand. They also claim it can offer retired people, students and working parents more flexibility.

But many say they still feel the pressure to accept work at short notice and fear that turning down extra hours will be held against them. Laura Gardiner, at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, said: ‘While it’s true that some people value the flexibility offered by zerohours contracts, for many they bring deep insecurity.

‘Alongside reduced employment rights, the potentially irregular nature of earnings they provide makes it hard to budget and plan ahead.’ Dr John Philpott, of consultancy firm The Jobs Economist, said the rise challenged predictions that the contracts would be phased out as unemployment fell and workers were able to be pickier about the jobs they accepted.

He said: ‘It looks as though zero hours contracts are becoming a growing core structural feature of the UK’s employment landscape.’

In May, the Government intro- duced legislation banning exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts, which had prevented people from working elsewhere to boost their income while also giving them no guarantee of work.

A spokesman for the Department for Business said: ‘Zero hours contracts have a part to play in a modern, flexible labour market.

‘For workers such as students and those with caring responsibilities they provide a pathway to employment, particularly when the individual cannot commit to regular hours.’

The TUC said the rise was partly down to public sector cuts, which meant many health and social care workers were being hired by councils and agencies on cheaper zero hours contracts, where they were under no obligation to pay for travel between jobs.