Zero Hour Contract Employment

Ayelet

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

So their hours are NOT regular, and never will be. We may need lots of bank cover one month, and hardly any the next. We use as little as possible. Staff on 'regular' contracts will be on a 4 week rota.

The bank staff where you work are rightly on a zero hour contract. What Maz and I complain about is staff who are working day in and day out on a zero hour contract,which is about abuse of power than covering shift workers. Holiday pay in these instances will never be correct.

Maz

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

We have a mix of 'bank staff' on zero hours and staff on 'regular' contracts. We need 24/7 cover for part of our work.

The bank staff are used to cover holidays, sickness, staff training, and the inevitable gaps between someone leaving and their replacement starting.

So their hours are NOT regular, and never will be. We may need lots of bank cover one month, and hardly any the next. We use as little as possible. Staff on 'regular' contracts will be on a 4 week rota.

As far as holidays go, we take 12.08% of the hours you've worked and pay it to you quarterly, as a separate line on your payslip. Oh, and we don't pay until the month after the month in which you worked, so at the end of June our Bank Workers will be paid for May, and so on.

Is this in a residential care home? If it is, I understand the need for a bank of staff on an as and when needed basis.

Don't know about Ayelet but I was referring to care workers in the community. Sorry, I should have made that clear.

Gettingtherequickly

Ayelet wrote: »

I'm surprised this isn't talked about more because these days it's expected for the country to run on temp work :rotfl: which is pathetic.

You think that is bad, I volunteer and alot of staff are being made redundant - apparently the volunteers will be able to take on a greater workload! A major fly in the ointment is that alot of volunteers work full time. So in time, the service will fall apart because of insufficient staff numbers and volunteers who crash under the new expectations.

Kate78

Yes the issue isn't so much the zero hours contracts, it's when they are abused.

For holiday/sickness/casual cover, they are entirely appropriate. As savvy_sue says, the holiday pay is usually rolled up and paid quarterly/termly/monthly or whatever is appropriate for the industry.

The problem is when employers use them to keep workers who are consistently doing 16+ hours per week dangling - they can stop giving them hours at any time with no recourse for redundancy or unfair dismissal. It seems particularly endemic for home carers, as does giving a pittance in fuel allowance and not giving them time to get from one call to another.

Gettingtherequickly

Kate78 wrote: »

The problem is when employers use them to keep workers who are consistently doing 16+ hours per week dangling - they can stop giving them hours at any time with no recourse for redundancy or unfair dismissal. It seems particularly endemic for home carers, as does giving a pittance in fuel allowance and not giving them time to get from one call to another.

What is the situation on a set small number of hours contract. A friends son was given a temporary role about 2 1/2 years on less than 10 hours a week. He is still there and is called every day and asked to go in, so is consistantly doing 40 hours a week. Has been asked to do a role in another area, but they won't agree to his request for the same contracted hours as the others in that area, ie full time. It is not as if he hasn't proved his loyalty.

Savvy_Sue

Maz wrote: »

Is this in a residential care home? If it is, I understand the need for a bank of staff on an as and when needed basis.

Don't know about Ayelet but I was referring to care workers in the community. Sorry, I should have made that clear.

Yes, ours is in a residential care home.

I agree that the way home care workers are treated is often appalling. However, they probably keep people on zero hours contracts because they don't want to have to pay people if the amount of care required fluctuates, and they want to be able to respond instantly if a new client requests care, or a current clients needs increase.

Not paying mileage and not allowing sufficient time to get from one call to another and not paying for ANY travel time - OK, I know it's the way it is, but it doesn't make it right.

The problem is that people undervalue care - of all kinds. I remember some of my friends moaning about the cost of childminders. I know I wouldn't have wanted the job, and didn't begrudge them what they were charging. And I dread to think of the fuss we'll have if my mother ever needs care in her own home, because I know she'll be paying for it herself, and she'll begrudge every penny! Me, I'll KNOW the person is earning whatever they're paid, and then some ...

ceridwen

MAZ

So - you put the case very clearly about these zero hours contracts.

Had you thought of going to the national media (the Guardian I would suggest - though you never know the Daily Mail might also be a possibility....) and getting them to run an article on how peeps are treated in these jobs? I know there is very little awareness of how these contracts actually work amongst those (eg myself) who are on normal contracts - rather than that type of contract.

I only saw mentioned for the first time the other day that careworkers who drive between peeps' homes arent paid for all the time involved for instance - and I had just assumed they would be paid for the whole day (ie from start of first job to end of last job) straight through.

One thing not mentioned by anyone on this thread - I am also left wondering how peeps get treated by the DWP if they get "sacked" from these contracts and then have to go and sign on for benefit. Do they produce evidence of the last however-many-weeks-of-work they have had as proof that they have been a full-time worker and the DWP accept it and hand over due benefit. Or - on the other hand - do the DWP try arguing about the fact that it wasnt down as a "proper" contractual full-time job? What is peoples experience in this case?

It was a valid point made too by the poster who commented that some people on these contracts are still expected to give the standard months notice - but then find themselves sacked without notice immediately (ie because of not being given any hours for the last month). I think peeps do need to be warned if they are doing this sort of contract that they mustnt give that month notice until the end of the last day they wish to work for that employer. That way they technically do a months notice (and are, in theory, available for work for the first employer) - whilst, in actual fact, starting work immediately for the new employer.

elisebutt65

I was teaching on a zero hours contract for 2 years until last September, when I was taken on, on a term-time contract, as my employers were told by the union that anyone who had worked for 2-4 years on zero hours were assumed to be required, and as such, had to be taken on.
Might be worth investigating?

Ayelet

Please don't forget the hospitality industry.

Zero hour contracts a rife in this area. Housekeepers in hotels are usually paid per room (25 minutes usually) and this gets 'added up' and if they finish over their time, then guess what happens? They don't get paid.

Really thinking of setting up a group to at least change the law with regards to these. It's more of a european law change though as these contracts are abused through-out europe.

Thanet62

Today it was reported that the jobless total in the UK has fallen YET the amount of people claiming benefits has RISEN!

The answer must be the ever increasing reliance on Zero Hour/Casual contracts. I am currently working a casual contract, no set hours on a contract that lasts 12 weeks. I'm about to reach that 12 week point and have to take a 2 week "break" normally I would have accrued enough in owed annual leave to sustain me during the break (I have been assured my contract will be renewed). However the last 12 weeks have been sparse work wise and whilst I was earning £220 on average most weeks after Christmas (previous 12 week contract) this period I have been taking home on average £90.
I am loathed to sign on for JSA as when I did this before the mix up with hours worked, B7 forms etc ended up with me having to pay back a weeks JSA. But I guess if I want to survive I will have to bite the bullet.
I have been looking for other work but am told by my manager that work will pick up in the holiday months and I can expect 30 plus hours! As its nights I get an allowance over the min wage (£1.80) an I don't want to burn my bridges.

I guess I just wish Zero Hours/Casual contracts came with at least a guarantee of 16 hours work!