What are zero hours contracts?

What are zero hours contracts? - In a nutshell

Рет қаралды 12,616

11 жыл бұрын

Zero hours Contracts - expert advice from Belinda Newton at The HR Dept Ltd - in.a-nut.sh/TheHRDept
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Zero hours Contracts, In a nutshell.
Lately, newspapers and politicians have been screaming loudly about zero-hour contracts claiming, often incorrectly, that they deny workers holiday pay.
Used properly, zero-hour contracts allow an employer to manage variations in demand. For example, seasonal attractions peak during school holiday times but are often weather dependent. Being able to plan to have the right number of staff on duty at short notice on a given day makes good business sense.
For many staff this casual arrangement works well, with the worker being able to refuse work if it does not fit with their plans -- this is a right they have.
Of course there are rogue employers who issue all staff with zero hours contracts and then penalise those that refuse shifts. This is not the intention or stated purpose of using such contracts, and is grossly unfair.
Even worse are those employers who insist anyone working for them is "self-employed", when in reality they aren't. Thus ensuring the person has no employment rights whatsoever and the employer can avoid certain tax liabilities, such as employer's National Insurance.
Just because some employers use zero hours contracts unfairly does not mean that everyone should be banned from using them, as some politicians and unions are calling for. Perhaps we should be looking at tightening up the circumstances in which they can be used, so that those businesses and workers who need and like the flexibility can have it, and those employers who are just using them to exploit their staff cannot do so.
There is a bigger picture here and it comes down to the individual needs of your business, and one of those needs has to be the morale and welfare of your staff. Therefore, employers should be looking at what arrangements they have with their workers and deciding what suits them and their staff best.
Building the right team with the flexibility that both your business and your workers need is the way to go.
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Belinda Newton
The HR Dept Ltd
www.hrdept.co.uk
belinda.newton@hrdept.co.uk
0845 863 0653
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Пікірлер: 18

@jeffreysalthouse9557 8 жыл бұрын

This is hardly a nutshell dishcription of the type of employment that zero hours contracts are. Please explain the terms of a zero hours contract more succinctly for a non UK audience.

@benwilliams11 9 жыл бұрын

Zero hour contracts are all right if you have another job, self employed or if you're semi retired. It's no good when you're on the dole as you keep having to sign off or notify the dole.

@swizzleproxi4810 6 жыл бұрын

Ben Williams well said.👍

@ladydigger 8 жыл бұрын

What a biased view. My ZC gives me an average work time of 3 hours per week over the year. You are terrified to refuse work as you are penalized for doing so. You also get little or no advance warning of upcoming employment. The lady in the video obviously has a well paid, secure job, hence the lack of any comment regarding the detrimental effects these Victorian contracts have on "workers" (we are not employees) and their families. Employment law took a massive step back in allowing these contracts to emerge and grip the workforce. How different are zero hours contracts from hanging outside around the Labour Exchange all day? There is no mention of the fact that in order to find some security ZCers often need to claim benefit which (as they have a "job") is extremely difficult. You may say such workers know what they are going into. Not so. Employers change the terms of these contracts at whim and the "worker" is often not even told. If zero hours contracts are here to stay then new legislation is needed. It is needed now.

@swizzleproxi4810 6 жыл бұрын

Zero hour contracts implies a person with no work rights..it would make a person very stressed to come to work not knowing what hours they would have..if any..each day.

@alansurgeoner5259 2 жыл бұрын

People used to be proud to be British and felt that most jobs were fair (even if the wages are not great) and you had some rights and protection from rogue employers. Now along with so many other things people are just used like farm animals or other creatures,easily replaced and no care given. Everyone needs to stand together and fight for the rights we all should have as human beings trying to live honestly and care and support our families. Why can we not make it that all MP's be put on zero hours contracts and for minimum wage. They should be given no tax exemptions ,no allowances for second homes. Turn an old building in London into a large scale hostel .The MP's get a bed in a room shared with three or four others,with a bathroom and facilities that they share to be able to cook or boil water. This still sounds better than many people have to live in right now. See how long thay last? Maybe one night if lucky. It is sad how the difference between those with money and those struggling with poverty keeps getting bigger and bigger when all we hear from MP's is how they are trying to make it smaller .Although i am not very religous when we pass from this life I do hope we are all judged fairly on how we have lived and treated others before we go on to our next whatever or wherever we go.

@MrHapsika 7 жыл бұрын

the problem is that rules are unknown by the employers. transparency does not exist and contracts do not have to be written and if it is, it has clauses that are actually unlawful on zero hour contracts... like day off request cannot be guaranteed..... if the employee is not obliged to accept any work offered (key rule on zero hour contracts) then how the hell can the employer deny a day off request???? McDonald's employees in the UK are in fact not on zero hour contracts, but the media, the internet are full of articles stating they are. FACT: zero hour contract is an agreement between the employer and the employee where the employer is not obliged to offer any work, whilst the employee is not obliged to accept any work offered. As per the McDonald's staff hand book, day off request cannot be guaranteed, availability change request can be denied, and the employees do have to do the shifts they are given, hence it cannot legally be a zero hour contract. They only try to make people believe this, so that they will not complain about their hours. The company reserves the right to increase or decrease the hours, but it does never ever anywhere says that it would not give you any hours a week or even if it were a zero hour contract. Of course it never appears anywhere, simply because it is NOT one of them.

@adastra123 5 жыл бұрын

Those things like morale , happiness are all invisible things. Hard laws that favour employers though invisible too are real and hard and cold. I think zero hours are f**king horrible and will eventually have people used as indentured workers. Though many may starve, or give up the will to live which could have significant cost savings for the state. Though that would also mean less of the poor people to work for zero hour contracts. We are selling our humanity and this is the start of it.

@YouWhatMate28 4 жыл бұрын

I was on 0 hours until yesterday my boss said i want you gone. I now have no job after 2 years. Ive gone from 26-36 hours a week to none. 0 hour contracts leave people at the mercy of their bosses mood

@BEInaNutshell 11 жыл бұрын

Zero hours contracts - In a nutshell by Belinda Newton

@veejaycee1 10 жыл бұрын

If you really believe that you nee to try living in the real world. Obviously you are in the pay of the bosses.

@thevipgurlz2802 4 жыл бұрын

Used properly???by law when you have depended children companies supposed to help you out with flexible working hours if they can.it is exploiting people to gain their income when not busy ...

@nevmalik1 5 ай бұрын

Zero hours encourages middle system stuck people to stick at the government benefit level to to pay the NI stamp (if they understand how it works) under 16 hours. Younger people have a long time and are not thinking about retirement yearly credits and is just extra money (Students have NI paid auto so not an issue). Retired People do not have to worry about paying the NI Stamp and so is also suitable and great for both these demographics. Swap this out for people in-between and unless they have guaranteed hours on basic pay of around 23 hours a week they will never achieve the NI for a state pension. They will have to go through weekly hell if they are send home and end up with less than hours expected for the week. Even trying to claim any befits from a 6 hour week to a 30 hour week gets massive scrutiny from DHSS if you do not meet that exact benefit hours ending in closing , appealing or restarting claims. I Personally think there is some good things here on Zero hours contract for younger and older population but have doubts for the majority of eager to work people that go through all of the above i have touched on. Happy for thought back on this

@nevmalik1 5 ай бұрын

Just wanted to add why this interests me. I am in full time work, we have just enough savings that my wife signing on will not receive any finance benefit. Only thing it will do is pay the NI stamp. However the hours offered and then withdrawn or sent home on the day makes it impossible for her to know if she can achieve the amount for the NI stamp (And she really wants to work and enjoys it, but life has thrown some disabilities do she had to revise what was possible). Literally next tax year i expect to pay more voluntary NI contributions to her getting a paid years pension tan if she stayed on disability benefit and limited her week hours. There is a bit of a disconnect here with Government policy, employers and employees requirement that could be fixed by a bit on sensible consideration and set hours to different groups of society demographic needs if companies willing to look at this more sensibly for benefit of all. Again really welcome any feed back good or bad