When Claire started working at a theatre box office 20 years ago she wasn’t a permanent full-time member of staff, but she could always rely on getting regular hours. Today she is still not under contract but her work schedule has become much more sporadic.

“The amount of work goes up and down depending on whether there’s a show on,” she says. “It’s impossible to plan anything unless I choose to make myself unavailable for work, and if I do that too many times I worry I won’t get offered shifts anymore.”

More than 900,000 UK workers now on zero-hours contracts Read more

The changes in Claire’s work pattern came about when she was put on a zero-hours contract – a term generally defined as when an employer is not obliged to offer work, or for workers to accept it.

This form of employment is on the rise in the UK: the number of workers on this sort of contract has increased by more than 100,000 over the past year, exceeding 900,000 for the first time according to data from the Office for National Statistics. But what’s the impact of this? We asked our readers in various professions to tell us about how zero hours contracts have impact on their daily lives:

The pilot: ‘Do you really want a pilot who is afraid to take sick leave?’

Zero-hours contracts are surprisingly common among pilots who work for low-cost airlines (in some companies around 70% of pilots are employed in this way). It’s a terrible situation to be in. I get no holiday or sick pay. Do the public really want their pilots reluctant to call in sick because they’ll lose money? Gaining a pilot’s licence is incredibly expensive and most of us have loans to pay off. At the moment I simply cannot afford to be ill, which puts me under a lot of pressure. There should be an outright ban on these contracts, or employee should at least have the right to demand full-time rights after a year. – Tee, 35

The teacher: ‘A zero-hours contract? I’d take that over the stress of full-time teaching’

I pretty much run my own timetable, although it’s obviously dictated by the rhythm of the school week. I do around 10 hours a week, helping out when it’s needed (at the moment I am supporting students before their exams). I actually do not have any form of written contract, just a verbal one. The advantages are that I don’t have to get involved with all the school politics (all the constant meetings about targets and data). The disadvantages are that I could be told to go at any time or have my hours cut if anything changes. Obviously I earn a lot less than a full-time teacher and don’t get paid for holidays or sick leave. It is much better, however, than when I was teaching full-time and came under a lot more daily pressure. At my age, the insecurity bothers me less than it would if I were younger. – Kay, 52

The bartender: ‘It’s endemic in bar work – the little guy is getting royally screwed’

Zero-hours contracts are endemic in bar work, about 75% of workers are employed in this way. But these contracts are now used to exploit young workers. Basically, you have no job security and can be disposed of at any moment. This can have a big impact on your mental wellbeing, not knowing whether you will have work from one to day to the next is stressful when you have responsibilities in your life and bills to pay. If someone is working regularly for their employer then they should have more rights – at the moment the little guy is getting royally screwed. – Simon, 25

The creative assistant: ‘I found myself bending to every whim of my employers’

I work in the arts, where many businesses are struggling to survive, so zero-hours contracts are often used. You would assume that this kind of contract would work in favour of both the employer and the employee but you would be wrong. It offers the employer flexibility and for small businesses the benefits are great, but there are no positives for the employee. I found myself bending to every whim of my employers knowing that if at any point I failed to please them my contract could become a actual zero hours contract. Instead of thinking, “I can take a day off, it will fine,” I found myself thinking, “I can’t take a day off, if I do I won’t get any extra hours if they’re offered.” My requests for any time off were often met politely enough initially and then slowly the inconvenience of my request was made clear. Despite being loyal and dependable I relied on the integrity and morals of my employer.

I have children at school and I quite often have to find childcare in the holidays because I know I cannot ask for the time off. I’m not paid any holiday pay either, so if I don’t work I don’t earn any money. I don’t earn enough to pay for childcare so I am constantly asking favours from friends and family to cover the days I am working. – Alison, 41



The ambulance driver: ‘A bit more job security would be nice – but I’m not that bothered’

I work as a non-emergency ambulance driver/crew member. I actually have a mostly positive experience of zero-hours contracts and I could do more hours if I wanted (I do three days a week), but more flexible work suits my lifestyle. Plus, I am treated well and usually know when I am working a week or two in advance. The only real down side is that the pay is not great, but it’s better than other part-time work. A bit more job security would be nice but later in life it’s not the main focus, and being on an unsecure contract doesn’t really bother me. For young people needing a steady income more should be done to help, but we seem to be sliding into more and more low-paid part-time working. No wonder no one can afford a house. – Harry, 57

The post office worker: ‘Zero-hours contracts work for students looking to make extra money’

I got a job on the post over Christmas (on a zero-hours contract) sorting parcels in a warehouse. This suited my needs. As a student I wanted to work a lot over Christmas but be able to quit in the New Year when I started back at university. I found it really flexible: over Christmas they would have liked me to work every day but I could pick and choose when I wanted to go in. After the holidays, they would call me every few weeks and ask if I wanted a shift at the weekend, to which I could say yes or no. After three months, my pay nearly doubled (it was based on experience) and from then I tried to take more shifts. The disadvantage was that I went abroad for two months over the summer, and because I didn’t do a shift for more than six weeks my pay went back to minimum hourly rate. At this point I quit as I couldn’t face going back to £6.50 an hour. I don’t think zero-hours contracts should be banned because they work for students and for people already with a part-time job who want to make some extra money. – Delia, 24

The theatre box-office assistant: ‘It’s impossible to plan anything – you have to be constantly available to work’

Until four years ago I hadn’t encountered zero-hours contracts. Even nearly 20 years ago when I started working in a theatre box office and didn’t have a contract I knew how many hours I would be employed for and actually worked full-time. Now, it’s called “zero-hours”, and the amount of work goes up and down depending on whether there’s a show on. What’s more, some employees seem to get their pick of the hours while others don’t. Added to this is the fact that the manager does the rota weekly (and usually at the end of the week), so sometimes you wait until Saturday to know what your hours are going to be on for the week ahead. It’s impossible to plan anything unless I choose to make myself unavailable for work, and if I do that too many times I worry I won’t get offered shifts anymore. The ridiculous thing is that when there’s a show on and if your availability is good, you can end up working a 40-48 hour week and the manager expects people to keep themselves available for when there are shows on (necessitating a later finish time), and will sometimes threaten to get new staff when some shifts are difficult to fill. Of course, then you rearrange things so that you can work to keep from losing shifts in the future. – Claire, 47

• All names have been changed