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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.
