Slides presented by Matthew Pennycook at the Resolution Foundation event A Matter of Time: The rise of zero-hours contracts. For more information see the full report available at http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/matter-time-rise-zero-hours-contracts/
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A Matter of Time
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• What are zero-hours contracts?
• The growth and spread of zero-hours contracts
• Implications for the UK labour market and the wider economy
• Why are growing numbers of employers using zero-hours
contracts?
• The impact of increased zero-hours contract use on those
who work on them and the services they provide
#zerohours
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Implications for the UK labour market and economy
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Those employed on zero-hours contracts:
• Work fewer hours on average (21 hours per week) than those who
are not (32 hours per week) and are more likely to be looking for a
new or additional job
• Receive lower gross weekly pay (an average of £236 per week)
compared to those who are not (£482 per week)
• Have a lower gross hourly wage (£9) than those who are not (£15)
• Are more at risk of being low paid (half of those on zero-hours
contracts are low paid compared to 23% of those who are not)
#zerohours
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Why are more employers using zero-hours contracts?
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Zero-hours contracts allow employers to:
• Maximise the flexibility of their workforce so that it
can more easily adjust to variations in demand
• More successfully manage risk
• Reduce the costs associated with recruiting and
training staff
• Avoid particular employment obligations
#zerohours
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The impact of zero-hours contracts on employees and
workplaces
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“Many of my colleagues who are raising families have
got into serious debt from working on zero-hours
contract because they cannot be sure what they’ll get
in each month. Those who’ve avoided debt have done
so by living with parents, drawing on savings, having
redundancy pay from previous jobs to fall back on”.
- FE lecturer, Bradford
#zerohours
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The impact of zero-hours contracts on employees and
workplaces
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“When I started out at my current job I did nine weeks
without a single day off and I was regularly working
anything up to 55-60 hours a week. Since putting my
foot down and refusing to work every other weekend
– I still do 12 days on with 2 off – my hours have dried
up”.
- Domiciliary care worker, Newcastle
#zerohours
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The impact of zero-hours contracts on employees and
workplaces
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“I have no faith or commitment to the company since
they put us all on zero-hours. All the girls who had
their contracts changed feel the same. And it definitely
has an impact on the care we provide…now everyone
is worried and looking for other jobs and that rubs off
on patients”.
- Day Services Support Worker, Kendal
#zerohours
Thanks to panel. Set out order. ZHC a type of employment contract under which an employer….Similar to small hours contracts and a number of similarities with agency tempingPrior to intro of WTR and NMWR associated with practice of “clocking-off” staff on site. While most exploitative practices curtailed ZHC are still precarious for many both in terms of uncertainty and because of the sharp practices still linked to them including the use of these contracts as a management tool to reward or punish.
ZHC are nothing new. Been around for some time.What’s novel is there growth and spread. Official statistics show a clear upward trend. Reasons to believe these represent a significant under-estimate. Other sector-based studies suggest higher rates. For example 150,000 domiciliary care workers are on ZHC
Now used by 8% of workplaces and across a range of sectors. Our analysis suggests 20% of those on ZHC work in the health and social work, 19% in hospitality where these contracts are overepresneted but we’ve also now see ZHC in sectors where they traditionally have been less prevalent e.g. 11% in retail
Fewer hours on average and less likely to be happy with this situation While we cannot say with any certainty due to data limitations the rise of ZHC on this basis may partly explain the ability of the UK labour market in recent years to combine high employment levels with an unprecedented squeeze on real wages and rising rates of under-employment
Increase a result of economic downturn (and question of their permanency as a form of employment).According to a number of employers and employer reps the 2010 Agency Work Regulations (entitling agency workers to the same pay, terms and conditions as their full-time equivalents after 12 weeks) may also have contributed to their rise as employers try to get round the burden of these regulations. There is anecdotal evidence to this effect towards direct hiring but recent years have also seen an increase in agency workers themselves so ZHC have not dampened demand for agency workers. More likely we are seeing a general rise in vulnerable employment.