Zero Hour Contract Employment

dmliverpool

Hmm... Self employed isn't necessarily worse, being self employed you could sell your services under the CIS scheme paying just 20% tax and you can do work anywhere as a sub-contractor. This means you can market yourself as a sole trader and never be out of work, as if in your area most work is done on this 0hr basis you can just say to employers that you are self employed and that would be more attractive to them, they just send you a cheque and usually pay your NI and tax. You can do this type of work for lots of building firms as well.

it's likely you will also be covered by their insurance as a subby so that's not a problem as they are the main contractor onsite, although this defers per contract.

In fact this is the norm in Europe which I have done this tax year. On this employed 0hr contract you could do one hour a year and they can get away with it.

CNash

ceridwen wrote: »

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?

With regards to benefits, the DWP work on number of hours worked per week, rather than having set definitions for what counts as "full time" and "part time" etc., and for the most part this works well. I'm on a zero hours contract, and still eligible for Working Tax Credits as I routinely work more than 16 hours a week.

If your hours are taken to zero (e.g. you're effectively unemployed), you become eligible for Jobseekers' Allowance as normal; the Jobcentre Plus staff are used to zero hours contracts and won't bat an eyelid. Again, eligibility for JSA is dependent on number of hours worked, not whether or not you're "employed" or "unemployed".

Usually the DWP, tax office etc. will take your word for it that you're giving them the correct information, as they don't have the time or resources to chase everyone up! However, if anything goes wrong, they may ask for proof of hours worked, or proof of income; the former can be provided by your employer, the latter is on your payslips or P60.

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As for zero hours contracts... I hate them with a fiery passion. I work in the computer games industry as a tester - most of the industry employs their testers on fixed-term rolling contracts, renewed as and when their services are required, but a certain few companies use zero hours contracts instead. As discussed above, they afford no financial certainty and no job security, and hand the employer absolute power over their employees. What's worse, in my particular case, I haven't ever received a pay rise (and I don't expect to) - not even to cover rising inflation and cost of living.

pixieland

i am a home carer of course its zero hours contract and i am on working tax credit i have been lucky so far and got my 30 hrs a week.I do pray every week that i am going to get some hours,trouble is i love my job just dont wont to go back into a care home.

juju66

I know this is an old thread but I thought it might need 'bumping up' as this issue seems to be on the increase.

I've been on a zero hour contract for 18 months now, working in academic support for a university. The hourly rate is good, but they will not guarantee any basic hours and there is no work outside term time.

I've also just seen a mortgage broker and he informed me that I would not be eligible for a mortgage because of my contract (even though we have an 80% deposit!) which has caused all sorts of problems for my family (my husband is on a PhD studentship and only works part time too).

I think these contracts are dreadful - we would appear to have no rights at all. if it wasn't for the fact that I am also self employed (although I make very little at that) I would not even be able to claim tax credits. And I live in a rural area where there are very few employment opportunities.

If anyone does know of a petition to sign, count me in. :mad:

Maz

Hi juju66!

I know exactly wherre you're coming from as will everybody who is or ever has been unfortunate enough to be on a zero hours contract.

You are right, under these contracts, workers seem to have little or no rights and are entirely powerless (unless anybody out there knows any different?)

I too live in a rural area where employment opportunities are, well, negligible, especially at the moment. Luckily, I've managed to obtain part time work in a restaurant on a fixed hours contract. It's rota'd which means I work different days every week but still fits in nicely with my self employment, as I can do that whenever I want to.

Personally, I'd like to see a complete overhaul of these iniquitous zero hour contracts. The worker invariably gets the worst end of the deal and seems totally unfair to me. Like you, I was turned down for some finance because of the irregular and fluctuating income whilst on zero hours.

Whether anything can be done to improve the situation, I don't know. All suggestions welcome!