Ok so your expected to be available, your expected to show up on time, your expected to perform your duties at work to a high standard. But the employee does not have to guarantee anything. This is slavery. What never gets quantified or even regarded is the mental effort required to be on call. You can't make plans, you cant relax, your in a constant state of stress about how your going to afford to get through the week. Work Work balance. This type of employer employee relationship should be totally illegal. They will promise you that when the economy gets better it will change FUCK OFF. Just I direct attack on workers rights. Not to mention the long term negative consequences on the mental welfare of anyone who is being subjected to this ABUSE!

They do not provide any financial security, and neither can people plan their lives due to the size of the flexibility that the employers have been given to do whatever they like. People on these contracts are actually experiencing no workers rights, they've been removed.

Alexander is a blushing, sweaty, messy, evil-eyed liar reading from a text-book with no real hands-on experience in dealing with zero hours contracts! And Zoe was spot on!

In my opinion the bottom line is this - the relationship between employer and employee is supposed to be a mutually beneficial agreement, the employee agrees to give their time and labour in return for a financial incentive and accepts that this financial incentive will be less than the true value of their labour (surplus value) to enable their employer to turnover a financial profit and in turn generate future profits which both help to sustain the employer's business and the employee's future income. This arrangement cannot be deemed exploitative if and when any profit made is distributed in a relatively proportionate fashion across the business, as employees understand that the 'entrepreneurial' aspect of business means that the employer has both invested their own time, labour and initiative in creating their business opportunity and has also taken on the financial risk involved in setting up and maintaining that business. The nature of this employer/employee agreement is the fundamental reason why zero hours contracts are exceedingly exploitative and entirely unethical. Zero hours contracts remove a significant amount of the 'entrepreneurial' financial and logistical risks of a business away from the employer, placing that aspect of risk firmly upon the shoulders of the employee. For example, the majority of businesses will experience periods of 'down time' - times when the nature of their business enterprise will experience a lull in trade or when logistical factors entail a brief and quite natural cessation in the usual working practices, a situation which all business (if they are planned and organised well) will factor into their overall business strategy without any serious negative impact upon their employees. However, zero hours contracts places this burden squarely upon the shoulders of the employee, who therefore effectively alleviates that financial burden to the business through their own lack of job security and lost income (and all the other problems this entails, e.g., housing, meeting living costs etc.,). The existence of zero hours contracts highlights a number of flaws relating to the wholesale adoption of neo-liberal capitalist economics by our political leaders over the past few decades. For the sake of brevity I will point out the most obvious consequence of all this - the increasing wealth gap between the top 5% and the rest of our society. The fact is that the savings made and the increased profits enjoyed by theses businesses as a result of zero hours contracts are not distributed evenly. This situation further compounds the problems of inequality throughout our society, as the accumulation of vast wealth in the hands of a tiny minority distorts the nature of other exchange markets - not least of all the housing market. This is why the neo-liberal myth of the altruistic nature of the 'trickle-down economic theory' is the greatest political injustice perpetuated against the working population of the world. It is an economic theory (outright deception) that has enabled successive governments to endorse policies which have benefited a privileged minority at the expense of a disenfranchised majority - it has been the tool used to bring about our renewed enslavement within an economic system that places the needs of profit before the needs of humanity, a system that amounts to a denial of human reality in favour a man made abstraction.

I have lots of experience as a project worker working with venerable young adults who are homeless. I graduated last year doing a degree, started looking for work as a project worker and all positions are zero gr contracts. I took a position with a company and have been working average 60hrs a week. Now however I am doing two shifts a week. I might as well go on the dole so I can pay my rent and bills as can't with w shifts a week. But cant go on dole as I will still be employed and must be dismissed before I can apply straight away on benefits until I find another position. I love my job and I'm great at it. But financialy and emotionally I can't do this anymore. I can't progress in my role as my contract says that I will not receive training or go on courses because I'm on a zero hours contract, so I am not progressing in any way. I need to leave my dream job to just find anything. All this hard work for nothing.

i DO NOT BELIEVE THE 84% most is not all of those who take on these contracts would more than likely jump at a job if offered a full time position. If people do not have enough money in their pockets to spend, they simply do not spend. If the economy relies on people spending on goods in our shops, they are more likely to think about the next electricity bill or putting food on the table, so the goods stay in the shops and you have a slow down in the market. If we buy in more goods than we sell, we are on a downward slope.

Zero hours contracts are a convenient way for large employers to circumnavigate employees rights. For example - zero hours contracts can be used to blackmail workers to do things that ordinarily would not be in their job description. Lets say an employer tells you at the end of your shift that they want you to work more hours with no notice. If you refuse they might simply offer you no more hours the next week leaving you with no income and no money to live. This does happen and is totally unacceptable in 2015. Our forefathers fought hard for our employment rights and now due to zero hours contracts these rights mean very little. In a society where big business's cared about their employee's this might not be a problem, but we do not live in such a world. Most big business's sole ambition is to make money and they do not care about morality unless it costs them money not to do so. By allowing zero hours contracts to become commonplace we are allowing big business to dictate the rights of workers as they see fit. It is a very worrying situation indeed.

If you are claiming universal credit and you have a job for zero hours contract what happens if the employer doesn't contact you for 3 to 4 weeks where does your money come from are you still entitled to your full universal credit can anybody answer me this question please

My problem and many other people's problems is that their manager or other superiors do not follow the rules of zero hour contracts. They "forget" you still get Sick pay (based on hours done), holiday pay and most importantly they seem to forget that you can refuse work offered to you, so simple requests such as asking for a couple days off three weeks from now get rejected and it feels like there's nothing you can do about it. Zero hour contracts are so heavily abused it's unreal, I'm actually ashamed of my government for not seeing the massive problems they could cause before they allowed them to go through. I'd happily tell the country how terrible they really are. And there are so many other issues (of which you can clearly see in this comment section) usually caused by exploitation or abuse of these contracts. And I'd very much like to see where you got your 16% from. 16% of the entire population or 16% of the few hundred you asked? C'mon, the public isn't as naive as they used to be, we have all the information at our finger tips these days.

My dads on zero hour contract & he is afraid to ask for a holiday. Just like most staff older staff that need the job. Young staff dont care. They come in for 6 month to a year then leave. The company relies on high turn over of young staff & vulnerable older staff. To cover young staff turn over. Everyone is on zero out contracts. Shop open from 7am to 9pm Mon to fri plus weekends. Young staff normally steal something when they leave & all stuff bonus are reduce to cover that lose. That's the business model. Nightmare job but st 60+ he can't go anywhere.

I work in retail part time on a 25 hour contract and won't employ full time staff in order to save money. Overtime is constantly cut and when it is available staff are told to take the time back and don't get paid for it! Constantly over the last 3 years I've asked for my contracted hours to be increased because I can't afford my rent and council tax, let alone being able to afford to eat properly. The company told me they couldn't afford to increase my hours because it's not in their budget! Big retail companies ARE EXPLOITING WORKERS FOR PROFITS AT THE EXPENSE OF THEIR STAFF!

Either you work freelance. In which case, £10 per hour is the minimum acceptable going rate, or you work full time. But 0 hour is just the worst of both worlds. You are locked into commitment to a company, with little room to work elsewhere, set your own rates and decide your own hours. To top it all, you cannot claim business expanses for your tax returns. And yet, you have the same job security of a freelancer - not at all. Actually even less, due to the lack of flexibility.

get rid of zero hours contracts

I have always had full time work I health and social care but I briefly did agency work last year while in between my uni course and training placement. I am lucky that I have a high skill set with the social care sector who could do different roles within health and social care, for the record I never did personal care or anything like that. I did community outreach work with adults, children's and families including tenancy and housing issues. This was all Monday to Friday 9-5 and I was paid we,l above the living wage and had expenses and a pension. I didn't have sick pay but I don't get sick anyway so that didn't bother it. Now I have full time work with a national charity in a middle management position following the end of my course and I can honestly say that I don't understand people who have kids apply to be agency workers. I know circumstances differ but how can you support your kids if you do that kid of work where you are not got regular hours.

yes they are horrible living with uncertainty every week no rights i know hoe it works i work with a zero hour contract

Flexibility? Zero hour contracts pit worker against worker to the point most would be highly anxious about refusing anything offered.

What do you think?

Probably OK if you're self employed or semi retired.

16% where happy?!?!?? NO ONE on a zero hour contract is happy

Zero hours contract = all rights to the employer and few for the worker.

we love the flexibility...be available 24 hrs a day 7 days a week at the drop of a hat if not dont come back...flexibility its great for a work life balance

Pay £1000+ rents on zero hours.😂

Both of these people have those insufferable mouth movements that many posh people have. It's almost like their mouth muscles have atrophied over generation of poshness.