Zero Hour Contract Employment

emma1983_2

Hello my partner has been working for a construction company for 3 years now under a zero hour contract and I was wondering if anyone is clued up on the law regarding to these contracts. For example he works between 36 to 45 hours per week, every week - is this allowed on this type of contract? Reason being my partner has recently expressed his concerns about this employment to his employer (the contract, the wage etc) and the employer has become uptight with him and now there's this uncertainty that he may say to my partner that there is no work for him and then he'll be out of work with little or no notice and virtually no employment rights.

SarEl

On a zero hours contract the employer may offer as many hours work as they wish to - anthing from 0 to 48 (or more if there is an opt out). The purpose of such contracts is to allow the employer the freedom to offer work or not as they wish / require. Your fear is very justified. The employer simply does not have to offer him any work at all - he is entitled to no notice of this and no redundancy; the employer simply keeps him on the books with no hours, neither employing him nor sacking him. There is a very slight possibility that doing this may give cause for legal action, but to be honest I am not hopeful. Even a zero hours contract can give rise to establishing contractul hours, but this would require you to establish that contractual hours had become an implied term by virtue of regularly being the same number of hours over a period of time; and you would also need to be able to prove that the employer is lying when he says that there is no work for your OH - which is hard to do, because simply employing someone else to do it is not proof of that because your OH has not right to the work. I am afraid that whilst hindsight is a wonderful thing, it may have been unwise to complain about the contract and terms without having something better lined up in the background. I can certainly understand why he would have done this - but it still didn't make it the wisest thing to do. At least in the short term the best move may be to stick his head down and hope the employer forgets about it with the next problem he gets, and look for another job with greater security or pay.

DCFC79

Im guessing zero contracts are the norm for this industry, its done on a as and when basis

Hammyman

The norm is to be self employed which is even worse.

emma1983_2

Thanks for your replies. I would've thought if a employee worked on a full time basis every week there would a case to change the contract. To be honest I think he was right to complain about the contract after being with the same company for 3 years with no pay rise and still on a zero hour contract. The pay is not at all fair for what he does so I think he's better off in a different job.

SarEl

emma1983 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. I would've thought if a employee worked on a full time basis every week there would a case to change the contract. To be honest I think he was right to complain about the contract after being with the same company for 3 years with no pay rise and still on a zero hour contract. The pay is not at all fair for what he does so I think he's better off in a different job.

I think your last statement is correct.

Just because an employee is able to work full time is no reason for an employer to offer them that or change the contract. I don't like these contracts, but therewe go - I don't always get what I want. But they are common and he may find no better elsewhere. And lots of people have had no pay rises for three years.

I agree it may not be fair - but it is also not uncommon in either of these things.I hope he finds another position - but you may want to also remind him that what he is offered in contractual terms may not improve - so taking what he can get and hoping it will change in the future may just land him back here in three years time. Be as selective as you can afford to be.

Googlewhacker

emma1983 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. I would've thought if a employee worked on a full time basis every week there would a case to change the contract. To be honest I think he was right to complain about the contract after being with the same company for 3 years with no pay rise and still on a zero hour contract. The pay is not at all fair for what he does so I think he's better off in a different job.

If he has been there for three years then I would say he begs to differ.

emma1983_2

I completely agree that he may find himself in the same predicament with another employer and yes not a lot of people get pay rises after 3 years especially when there's a recession but working for a company for 3 years, having a good level of attendance and doing hard labour for minimum wage doesn't pay the bills - the sad fact is he can earn more sitting on his !!!, not that he will but that is what's wrong with the system.

acswales

I'm on a zero hours contract in a care home ("flexible" because I am a student).... I worked upwards of 60-70 hours per month for nearly two years, then last month got given two hours for various reasons. They can pretty much do what they want, i'm afraid....

Ayelet

acswales wrote: »

I'm on a zero hours contract in a care home ("flexible" because I am a student).... I worked upwards of 60-70 hours per month for nearly two years, then last month got given two hours for various reasons. They can pretty much do what they want, i'm afraid....

I understand the need to be flexible, but to be fair these contracts just get abused by employers. More and more companies are using these contracts which means those workers cant plan financially, buy a house and wont be spending in the economy because of fear. Without consumer spendig the recovery will be slow.

I am also on a zero hour contract, but it suits because I will be a student in september, but for those who just want to work these contracts are just not acceptable.

Also one of the benefits would be to turn down work, but in reality this is bull because if you refuse work you might as well be looking for another job...

sorry rant over lol!

Maz

Ayelet wrote: »

I understand the need to be flexible, but to be fair these contracts just get abused by employers. More and more companies are using these contracts which means those workers cant plan financially, buy a house and wont be spending in the economy because of fear. Without consumer spendig the recovery will be slow.

I am also on a zero hour contract, but it suits because I will be a student in september, but for those who just want to work these contracts are just not acceptable.

Also one of the benefits would be to turn down work, but in reality this is bull because if you refuse work you might as well be looking for another job...

sorry rant over lol!

Agree. One of the worst aspects of being on a zero hours contract is financial uncertainty.

I work part time in the care industry which seems to embrace the zero hours contract wholesale! It suits me too because I have a part time business which I largely operate in the afternoons/evenings. I'm also willing to do the red eye shift as the care manager struggles to cover the early starts and the hourly rate is enhanced to reflect the unsociable hours.

But, I have seen employers use it to force people to leave by suddenly not having any hours available for them. Also, in my particular case, my contract asks for a months notice if you want to leave. The reality of this is, that once you've submitted your notice, all your hours are taken away from you and reallocated, making you effectively unemployed immediately! Harsh if you then have to wait a further month to start your new job!

Additionally, we are told that we have the right to refuse work for any reason. You're correct when you say that if this happens you might as well look for another job because all of a sudden you don't get offered any more work!

The people I know that work full time in care have to be available to work from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.to be in with a fighting chance of getting enough hours to make a barely adequate wage. You can only work those kind of hours for so long before you collapse with exhaustion!

I feel that employers who use zero hours contracts have got employees by the short and curlies and would avoid this type of contract in the future, if possible.