9 Conclusion
123. It is clear that zero hours contracts
and other forms of casual labour can benefit both employers and
workers but our inquiry has shown that, too often, the relationship
is unbalanced, leaving the employer with all of the flexibility
and few costs and the worker in fear of dismissal and denied access
to due rights of employment. During our inquiry into the use of
zero hours contracts in Scotland, we heard how workers, without
the security of a permanent job, were fearful of questioning the
terms of the conditions of their employment even if they knew
them to be unfair, were reluctant to challenge unsafe working
conditions and felt that they could not turn down work no matter
how short the notice or how inconvenient the shift offered, in
case doing so jeopardised future offers of work.
124. Zero hours workers are entitled
to limited employment rights but, worryingly, a significant proportion
of employers are either ignorant of those rights or are wilfully
blocking access to them. Five per cent of zero hours workers are
paid less than the national minimum wage and thousands of social
care workers are illegally denied payment for time spent travelling
between appointments. This is clearly unacceptable, but it is
not just with employers that there is a problem. We heard examples
of Jobcentre Plus staff pressurising job seekers into accepting
work with no guaranteed hours and threatening to sanction either
the job seeker - if they turned the position down - or the worker
- if having accepted it they found insufficient hours were made
available and wished to exit the contract and re-sign on.
125. The UK Government has recognised
that poor practice exists and needs to be addressed. It announced
its intention to address concerns surrounding zero hours contracts
in August 2013 but the consultation that followed was too narrow.
It focused on measures to combat the problems of exclusivity and
a lack of transparency which are concerns but addressing them
on their own will do little to tackle the problems of exploitation
we have highlighted in this Report. For example, such measures
will be of limited help to the 20% of workers paid less than their
permanent equivalents doing the same job, the 40% who receive
no notice of employment or the 6% who turn up for work to find
none available, or the thousands of others whose employers evade
the provision of basic employment rights.[198]
126. Exclusivity should be banned where
there is no guarantee of work and more transparency can only be
a good thing, but we doubt a Code of Practice that is employer-led
will help workers who are exploited. We are concerned that a Code
of Practice may serve to embed a form of employment that in most
circumstances is difficult to justify. If a Code is to be produced
it should only be as a stepping stone to, or following, legislative
change aimed at reducing the use of zero hours contracts and ensuring
workers receive the income, rights and protections to which they
are entitled.
127. The Government argues that workers
are able to challenge unscrupulous employers through the courts,
but the idea that a low-paid worker can challenge their employer
through an expensive legal process is fanciful. The lack of a
legal definition of a zero hours contract also hinders any legal
challenge. A zero hours worker who embarks on such a challenge
may also be penalised by the employer for doing so.
128. The problems with zero hours contracts,
as well as other forms of casual labour, are clear, yet it does
not have to be this way.Many organisations are able to manage
without using zero hours contracts: local authorities have moved
away from using them directly and most major supermarkets are
able to respond to fluctuations in their sectors without them.
The use of zero hours contracts is out of all proportion to what
is required and is creating a two-tier workforce. Employers should
make much greater use of permanent, part-time, fixed-term or variable
hours contracts which guarantee minimum hours and provide workers
with a degree of certainty. Zero hours contracts must only be
used where the employer can objectively justify their use.
129. The increase in the use of casual
labour across the UK, and in Scotland in particular, is alarming.The
Government should use all the levers at its disposal, including
legislative change, to effect a shift in culture.
198 CIPD, Policy Response: Zero hours employment contracts,
March 2014 Back
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