A Channel 4 documentary aired on August 1, 2013 claimed that Amazon had used “controversial” zero-hour contracts as a tool to reprimand employees. [32] The exact circumstances vary depending on the contract. Zero-hour employees can be considered “on-call” and employers often offer them work on very short notice. In some cases, zero-hour contract employees may accept or decline assignments at their discretion, while some contracts require workers to accept any employment offered by an employer. In the United Kingdom, under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, workers working on zero-hour contracts for on-call time, on-call time and absenteeism must receive the national minimum wage for hours worked. Prior to the introduction of the Working Time Ordinance 1998 and the National Minimum Wage Ordinance 1999, zero-hour contracts were sometimes used to “dismiss” employees during quiet periods while keeping them in place so that they could return to paid work when needed. National minimum wage rules require employers to pay the national minimum wage for the time workers need to be at work, even if there is no “work” to be done. [3] [4] In the past, some workers working on a zero-hour contract have been told that they must obtain permission from their employer before accepting another job, but this practice has now been prohibited by UK law enacted in May 2015. [1] [5] In Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41, the UK Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on workers employed on zero-hour contracts. Lord Clarke stated in paragraph 35 that, in employment relationships characterised by unequal bargaining power, the written terms of a contract must not, in reality, represent what the contract was in law.
In 2013, the reasoning of the Autoclenz case was used by Justice Supperstone before the Employment Appeal Tribunal[6] to conclude that a safety guard who had been awarded a zero-hour contract was entitled to a stable work arrangement: the written terms of the contract were invalid. Overall, this suggests that all zero-hour contracts may be illegal and that workers may have the right to sue their employers for an illegal wage deduction if they are willing and able to work. [7] Labour has reaffirmed its commitment to a ban on zero-hour contracts if elected at its annual conference, where members also voted for a £15 minimum wage. Given the recent controversy over the large number of UK workers working on zero-hour contracts, companies hiring employees under these conditions need to exercise a high degree of caution when it comes to tracking their employees` often limited working hours. Manually entered and compiled timesheets, punch card systems, spreadsheets, and other outdated timesheet systems simply don`t offer the level of accuracy, ease of use, and accountability needed to ensure that employees on zero-hour contracts are paid properly for their work. Why should an employee accept a zero-hour contract? If they are unemployed, a zero-hour contract at least gives them the opportunity to earn money from time to time and keep their skills up to date. It is also possible that this work will lead to full-time work in the future. Similarly, the employee is not required to work a certain number of hours, so one week he can have high availability, and the next he can only have a few hours off. The zero-hour contract was introduced during the recession so that employers would not have to pay their employees when the company`s workload decreased. While this seems unfair because the worker has no guarantee of work, it has led many workers to consider themselves independent contractors or freelancers. A zero-hour contract, also known as an opportunity contract, is a work arrangement without fixed hours. Instead, the employee is on call to work when needed.
If you have a zero-hour contract, your employer is not obliged to give you work and you are not obliged to work when you are asked to. For employers, one of the biggest drawbacks of a zero-hour contract is that the exclusivity clause prevents them from preventing employees from working for other companies. In the UK, it is estimated that for around 905,000 workers, a zero-hour contract is their main source of employment. Of all respondents with zero-hour contracts, 32% said they would prefer more hours. It is common for a zero-hour contract to confer the status of worker rather than the status of worker. Regardless of the status of your employees in your agreement with them, the corresponding rights above apply. A zero-hour contract is suitable for companies that need a flexible supply of labor, as they can cope with changing demands or cannot predict the exact staff they will need at all times. The survey also found that 20% of workers oppose banning zero-hour contracts. At the same time, 70 per cent believe workers should be entitled to 28 days` notice before shifts are assigned. Although the economy has improved, zero-hour contracts are expected to continue to be widely used. Here are some reasons why: To be eligible for statutory sickness benefit (PSC), all employees must have a contract, have performed work under their contract, have been ill for more than four consecutive days (even if they did not work on those days), earn an average of £120 per week and give the correct notice as determined by the employer.
However, many employees struggle with the financial instability of these contracts and will accept whatever job they can get. Some say that 0-hour contracts are the future of work, while others say that zero-hour contracts are obsolete and do not meet the current needs of the workforce.