Unions criticise government review of zero-hours contracts

The government has been conducting a review of the growing use of zero-hours contracts. However, none of its proposals address the use of zero-hours contracts to evade basic employment rights, such as the right to maternity leave, paternity leave and redundancy pay, or the pressure on workers to keep themselves available on the off-chance that they will be offered work.

Instead, the government response focuses narrowly on banning contractual “exclusivity clauses”, which prevent people working for anyone else. But, as UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis points out, in so doing the consultation “misses the bigger picture”.

The Labour Party has announced a series of proposals it promises to implement to prevent exploitation through the use of zero-hours contracts if it wins the 2015 election. The proposals follow a review by Norman Pickavance, an ex-director of human resources at Morrisons. The proposals include:

• a right to request a fixed-hours contract after working regular hours for six months for the same employer, who can reject the request only with good reason;

• an automatic fixed-hours contract after working regular hours for a year, unless workers opt out;

• an end to “exclusivity” clauses which prevent people working for another employer;

• a ban on contracts forcing employees to be available at all hours;

• compensation, such as two hours’ pay, when shifts are cancelled at short notice;

• rules ensuring that employees are clear as to their contract terms;

• anti-avoidance measures to prevent lay-offs just before the qualification date.

The proposals are seen by many as a climb-down from Labour’s initial proposals prepared before the TUC Congress in September 2013, when it briefed that “anyone working for a single employer for more than 12 weeks on a zero-hours contract would have the automatic right to a full-time contract based on the average time worked over that period”. This period has now been extended to 12 months. As unions point out, employers could easily avoid this obligation by dismissing workers ahead of the deadline, and later rehiring them.

Meanwhile, ONS data has shown that the number of workers with this type of contract is now 1.4 million. New TUC analysis shows that most of these workers earn less than the Living Wage.

The TUC is calling for: compensation, including travel costs, where zero-hours shifts are cancelled at short notice; written contracts with guaranteed hours and regular shifts; a ban on “exclusivity” clauses for all workers, and simplification of employment law so that all workers get the same basic employment rights.