[Misc] Zero hours contracts

[BensGrandad]

I believe that these should be made illegal for workers.

If a person is laid off because the firm have no work it is not the fault of the worker but that of the employer for (a) not finding sufficient work (b) not making provisions for quiet times. Most employees have regular financial commitment that they cannot avoid ie rent or mortgage council tax etc How can they pay that if they are laid off for 2 or 3 days in a week? I believe that when somebody is employed it should be a financial commitment that the employer is forced to honour.

 

[Commander]

OK thanks.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I believe that these should be made illegal for workers.

If a person is laid off because the firm have no work it is not the fault of the worker but that of the employer for (a) not finding sufficient work (b) not making provisions for quiet times. Most employees have regular financial commitment that they cannot avoid ie rent or mortgage council tax etc How can they pay that if they are laid off for 2 or 3 days in a week? I believe that when somebody is employed it should be a financial commitment that the employer is forced to honour.

You know how easy it is to get rid of employees even when they're on a full time contract don't you ?

 

[beorhthelm]

i beleive you should look into what constitutes "zero hours contracts" before writing them off. for example, self employed all come under that category, freelancers, casual work, bank/pool staff, agency staff so on. including casual bar staff. having flexibility, variable of working hours is suitable for hundreds of thousands if not millons of workers. replace them some nominal fixed, minimum hours contracts isnt going to address any of the problems for those with regular financial commitments unless they have high minimum hours, aka part time or full time.

 

[dazzer6666]

I believe that these should be made illegal for workers.

If a person is laid off because the firm have no work it is not the fault of the worker but that of the employer for (a) not finding sufficient work (b) not making provisions for quiet times. Most employees have regular financial commitment that they cannot avoid ie rent or mortgage council tax etc How can they pay that if they are laid off for 2 or 3 days in a week? I believe that when somebody is employed it should be a financial commitment that the employer is forced to honour.

Great recipe for making loads of businesses go bust but do carry on.

 

[The Clamp]

I have a full time job now but have had a zero hours contract with another company for a couple of years as well as a full time job. When I was laid off last year from that full time job the zero hours one came into its own, helping me keep my head above water. Now I'm in full time work I still pick up a few shifts a month on my zero hours job which pays for the little extras in life. For me that zero hours job has been very convenient, both being a life saver when I was out of full time work and a handy extra income now. They're not great for everyone but they do work in some circumstances. Depends on the scruples of the employer.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Not quite the same thing contract wise, (I was employed via an agency, rather than directly, under a ZH contract) but I spent a year after college, working for a council's parks and gardens dept and was in a situation like this. You'd get told Friday afternoon that you had five days work the following week, but any day it rained, you'd get a call at 7.00am standing you down. From the council's POV made perfect sense - I was driving grass cutting machinery, that you couldn't use effectively on wet grass - and they had enough of their own full-time staff that they paid to drink tea in huts.

Didn't help us much though, when your pay was two days light at the end of the week. The stupid thing is, the council will have been paying such a high rate to the agency for each day of our time, that it would definitely have been cheaper for them to pay us for 5 days, than the agency for 3...

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Simple fact is that Zero Hours contracts are great for a lot of people and abused by some shyster companies. Surely some kind of change can occur to stop exploitation of vulnerable employees whilst leaving the option for the many thousands of people it benefits.

 

[Simster]

Simple fact is that Zero Hours contracts are great for a lot of people and abused by some shyster companies. Surely some kind of change can occur to stop exploitation of vulnerable employees whilst leaving the option for the many thousands of people it benefits.

Your first sentence is correct, but I'm not sure the second is possible. If it was, it would have been done by now. That said, my solution is for the minimum wage on zero hour contracts to be double the contracted minimum wage. At least that way, employer flexibility is maintained whilst the vulnerable earn a lot more for the work they get.

 

[BensGrandad]

I am talking of firms within the trades like the building trade where because they have no work they can say to a man we have no work today dont come in and obviously he doesnt get paid. If that happens 2 or 3 days in a week what is the worker supposed to do? This could even extend to other types of job such as garages etc.

 

[BensGrandad]

Great recipe for making loads of businesses go bust but do carry on.

Is it the workers fault that rhe boss has taken on 20 people during the busy time to earn money and only needs 2 at quiet times?

 

[Gritt23]

Is it the workers fault that rhe boss has taken on 20 people during the busy time to earn money and only needs 2 at quiet times?

And how do you propose the business should run? Be short staffed during the busy time and be unable to deliver the contract properly, or to be so overstaffed during the quiet time that they are bust before the next busy time comes round?

I'll wait, as I'm hoping to learn something here.

Please don't make business sound easy and suggest they get more work in to avoid having "quiet times".

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Is it the workers fault that rhe boss has taken on 20 people during the busy time to earn money and only needs 2 at quiet times?

The alternative is that the employer takes on less people on a full time contract and then makes redundancies during lean periods. A full time contract doesn't protect you from redundancy.

 

[GT49er]

Simple fact is that Zero Hours contracts are great for a lot of people and abused by some shyster companies. Surely some kind of change can occur to stop exploitation of vulnerable employees whilst leaving the option for the many thousands of people it benefits.

The trouble lies in drafting legislation that will actually do what it is meant to do. Somehow it will fail to help the victims, and inadvertently penalise people it isn't meant to affect. That's what legislation often does.

The 'Windrush' situation is a perfect example.

 

[Justice]

I am talking of firms within the trades like the building trade where because they have no work they can say to a man we have no work today dont come in and obviously he doesnt get paid. If that happens 2 or 3 days in a week what is the worker supposed to do? This could even extend to other types of job such as garages etc.

I wouldn't worry about self employed tradesman the majority if any good are flat out seven days a week if they want.

 

[banjo]

Works well for my lad, good money, flexible hours round his college work.

 

[Eeyore]

Simple fact is that Zero Hours contracts are great for a lot of people and abused by some shyster companies. Surely some kind of change can occur to stop exploitation of vulnerable employees whilst leaving the option for the many thousands of people it benefits.

This. It may work for some people. So it is wrong to outlaw it. It is important that workers rights are protected though and such agreements should be an exception and not standard.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

And how do you propose the business should run? Be short staffed during the busy time and be unable to deliver the contract properly, or to be so overstaffed during the quiet time that they are bust before the next busy time comes round?

I'll wait, as I'm hoping to learn something here.

Please don't make business sound easy and suggest they get more work in to avoid having "quiet times".

Maybe they could redeploy staff during quiet periods to check the vehicle tracker application to ensure nobody rings someone who is driving ?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Works well for my lad, good money, flexible hours round his college work.

And my step daughter. Works in a pub and she gets loads of shifts when they are busy and less when they are not. Even allows her to turn down shifts as there's no contract and it fits around her A levels and BTECs.

 

[Postman Pat]

I would assume the vast majority of staff at the football club are zero hours, stewards, cleaners and concourse staff (appreciate these are outside contractors)

Wouldn't need the vast majority on day to day basis only on match days.