Your work is worth zero

Zero hours contracts on the rise. Source: https://www.hrgo.co.uk

There are currently 883 thousand people on a zero-hour contract in the UK, which correspond to 2.8 per cent of the entire working population, according to data released in August by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Labour Force Survey (period April-June 2017).

Since 2014 there has been a huge increase in the number of people reporting that are on a zero-hours contract as ten years ago only 0.6 per cent of the workforce had to deal with such unstable work conditions.

Those on this kind of contract are not guaranteed a minimum number of work hours during the week, but must be always available, otherwise their name will be removed from the ‘flexible workers’ list. It does not come by surprise that they are not entitled to holidays or sick leave.

Zero-hours contracts are extensively used by retailers, hotels and restaurants all over the country and the problem is affecting 3.4 per cent of women against 2.2 per cent of men, while the under 25s are those who have to bear the brunt of the market crisis, according to statistics.

Unite, which is Britain’s largest union, has urged the Government to ban zero-hour contracts and put workers’ welfare first.

“Staff are treated  as throwaway workers with throwaway rights”, said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, highlighting a serious need to improve rights and conditions in the workplace.

During last week TUC Congress in Brighton, Ms. O’Grady has raised concerns about the new technology that allows different ways of exploitation: in fact, casual workers can currently be fired via apps by bosses they never met or spoke to.