TUC urges government to better support staff at sharp end of labour market as figures show surge in insecure jobs

The number of UK workers on zero-hours contracts has leapt 20% in a year to more than 900,000, indicating that insecure employment has become a permanent and growing feature of the jobs market.

The Office for National Statistics said 903,000, or 2.9%, of the employed workforce were on zero-hours contracts – which do not offer guaranteed hours or sick pay – in their main job, up from 747,000 last year.



Response to the data, the general secretary of trade union umbrella body the TUC, Frances O’Grady, said the government needed to give extra support to workers “living at the sharp end of the labour market”.

Zero-hours contracts used far beyond short-term work, research says Read more

TUC analysis shows that the average worker earns 50% more an hour than those on zero-hours contracts . The median hourly rate for a zero-hours worker is £7.25 compared with £11.05 for all employees, the TUC said.

Employment expert John Philpott, director of the Jobs Economist, said the contracts undermine the spirit of statutory minimum wage regulations. He said: “People employed on zero-hours contracts are only entitled to the minimum wage for the hours they actually work and receive nothing when ‘on call’, which serves to intensify income insecurity.”

Zero-hours contracts are widely used by retailers, restaurants, leisure companies and hotels. The care industry is estimated to employ 160,000 workers on zero-hours contracts while the public sector, especially the health service, has increasingly adopted the flexible contracts.

Sports Direct ditches zero-hours jobs and ups worker representation Read more

Britain’s largest sportswear retailer Sports Direct said this week it would offer shop staff the option of a minimum contract of 12 hours’ work per week, which is in line with other retailers such as Next. Sports Direct’s founder, Mike Ashley, said he would consider switching 4,000 agency staff at the company’s main distribution centre to being full time employees.

On average, staff on a zero-hours contract work 25 hours a week, the ONS said. But 31% on the contracts said they wanted to work more hours compared with 10% of those in other forms of employment.

Nick Palmer, an ONS statistician, said it was likely that some of the increase related to greater public awareness of the term zero-hours contract. This leads to respondents to the ONS labour force survey – used to calculate the zero-hours numbers – flagging their new-found awareness of their employment status.

O’Grady said the figures exposed a hidden part of the British economy. “Zero-hours contracts have become an easy way for bosses to employ staff on the cheap. There is no getting away from the fact that zero-hours workers earn less money and have fewer rights than people with permanent jobs,” she said.

“It is very easy for politicians and employers to talk about the flexibility these contracts offer. But they are not the ones living at the sharp end of the labour market. If you don’t know how much work you will have from one day to the next, paying the bills and arranging things like childcare can be a nightmare.”

Earlier this year, New Zealand banned the contracts after a campaign led by trade unions. The law, which took effect on 1 April, stipulates that employers must guarantee a minimum number of hours work each week and workers can refuse extra hours without repercussions.

From a pilot to an ambulance driver, zero-hours contract workers speak out | Sarah Marsh Read more

The general secretary of the Unite trade union, Len McCluskey, said: “As New Zealand has shown, governments do not have to sit on the sidelines when it comes to tackling exploitation. They can outlaw zero-hours contracts.

“Theresa May now needs to prove true to her word about supporting working people by setting out her plan to rid working people of the twin curses of insecurity and low paid work.



“Let’s see the UK government follow the lead of their counterparts in New Zealand and ban the use of zero-hours contracts as part of a plan to halt the tide of insecure low paid work.”



A spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: “As the prime minister has made clear, we want to do more to build an economy that works for everyone and to help working people who are struggling to get by.

“Since May last year, the use of exclusivity clauses has been unlawful, meaning that individuals have more control over their lives and can work more hours with another employer if they wish.”

