tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/zero-hours-contracts-73337/articlesZero-hours contracts – The Conversation2020-02-27T14:35:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1323382020-02-27T14:35:45Z2020-02-27T14:35:45ZOne million Britons will be on zero-hour contracts by end of 2020<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317336/original/file-20200226-24659-1i4tp9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/clock-face-illustrate-concept-zero-hour-623344097">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A first glance at the latest <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/labourmarketeconomiccommentary/february2020">commentary</a> from the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus">Office for National Statistics</a> (ONS) on the UK labour market in the last quarter of 2019, and everything looks rosy: employment is up 1%, unemployment is down 5.4% on the same period in 2018, and regular average weekly earnings finally exceed the peak earnings before the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/dec/28/markets-credit-crunch-banking-2008">financial crash</a> of 2008. But is it all really as good as it seems?</p>
<p>The leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, thinks so – tweeting about the effect of the “Boris bounce” on wages. But the <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/">Trades Union Congress</a> (TUC) <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/working-people-wont-be-celebrating-more-decade-lost-wages">asserts</a> that working people have experienced 12 years of lost wages and are facing <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/government-must-ban-zero-hours-contracts-says-tuc">record levels</a> of work insecurity. If current trends continue, it says, around a million working people will be on <a href="https://www.acas.org.uk/zero-hours-contracts">zero-hours contracts</a> by the end of this year. The TUC also <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/working-people-wont-be-celebrating-more-decade-lost-wages">claims</a> for a political party that has been in power for 10 of the 12 years since the financial crash, the current state of the labour market is not something to be proud of.</p>
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<p>A zero-hours contract means an employer does not have to offer the employee fixed hours. According to the <a href="https://www.acas.org.uk">Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service</a> (ACAS), it is a “flexible” option if work is not constant, or the work can be “as and when”. Under law, an employee has the same rights as a standard employee including the <a href="https://www.acas.org.uk/national-minimum-wage-entitlement">national minimum wage</a> and <a href="https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-holiday-entitlement">holiday pay</a>. But the supply of work is very much in the hands of the employer. The flow of employment can be <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/cancelled-shift-compensation-wont-end-injustice-life-zero-hours-contract">cut off</a> at any time and shifts can be cancelled with very little notice, leading to financial insecurity.</p>
<p>In a speech at the Labour Party conference in 1995, the then leader of the opposition, Tony Blair, <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4533142/user-clip-blair-promises-outlaw-hours-contracts">highlighted</a> “the need to end zero-hours contracts” in his bid to stop part-time workers being treated like “second-class citizens”. But 20 years later the number of people on zero-hours contracts was almost <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/25/zero-hours-contract-rise-staff-figures">700,000</a> and growing. Today that figure stands at <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/government-must-ban-zero-hours-contracts-says-tuc">974,000</a>.</p>
<h2>Wage growth and zero-hours contracts</h2>
<p>The bad news continues for wage growth as well as the numbers of workers on zero-hours contracts. <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/labourmarketeconomiccommentary/february2020">According</a> to the ONS, “for the first time since March 2008, <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/aguidetolabourmarketstatistics#earnings">real regular average weekly earnings</a> exceeded the highest level reached before the economic downturn”. The real average weekly wage – which the ONS uses to work out average earnings based on information collected for the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/surveys/informationforbusinesses/businesssurveys/monthlywagesandsalariessurvey">Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey</a> – has increased to £474. But the highest wage recorded before the 2008 financial downturn was £473, meaning wages for October to December 2019 have grown just £1 since the spring of 2008.</p>
<p>The TUC even <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/working-people-wont-be-celebrating-more-decade-lost-wages">casts doubt</a> on the idea that wages have returned to pre-recession levels. “Real” wages do consider inflation – but there are several different methods of measuring it: the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/january2020#glossary">Consumer Prices Index including occupiers’ housing costs</a> (CPIH); <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/consumerpriceindicesabriefguide/2017">the Consumer Price Index</a> (CPI); and the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/adhocs/009543rpiindexation">Retail Price Index</a> (RPI).</p>
<p>The ONS uses CPIH with 2015 as a base year to calculate real wages – which gives the most favourable reading of wage levels in comparison to March 2008. If CPI is used, wages are £10 per week less than at their peak in 2008 and using RPI it is a staggering £49 lower. The <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/">Resolution Foundation</a>, an independent think-tank which focuses on improving living standards for low and middle earners, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/feb/18/average-uk-wages-rise-above-pre-financial-crisis-levels">calculates</a> that if wages had continued to rise at the rate of 2.1% from 2008 levels – which was the <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/sad-songs-and-tough-budgets/">pre-recession average growth rate using CPIH</a>, earnings would be £141 higher per week than they are now. </p>
<p>The use of zero-hours contracts has exploded over the past decade. In the figures published by the ONS, just under <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/labourmarketeconomiccommentary/february2020">one million working people</a> are on zero-hours contracts in their “main job”. That accounts for 3% of employed people in the UK. Although employment figures seem positive in general, to be <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46264291">classed as employed</a> in the UK you need only work just one hour per week. </p>
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<p>In the latest ONS figures, one-third of people on zero-hours contracts are aged between 16 and 24, and 100,000 more women are working this way than in 2018. This could have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/05/zero-hours-contracts-affect-young-peoples-health-study-finds">negative effects</a> on families and young people early on in their career, including financial insecurity and poor mental health.</p>
<p>In academia, increasing casualisation of academic work has been cited as a factor in <a href="https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10621/UCU-announces-14-strike-days-at-74-UK-universities-in-February-and-March?utm_source=Lyris&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=&utm_term=&utm_content=">a dispute</a> taking place at universities across the UK. And zero-hours contracts have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/may/01/mcstrike-mcdonalds-workers-walk-out-over-zero-hours-contracts">the trigger</a> for industrial action in the hospitality sector in recent years.</p>
<h2>Good for business?</h2>
<p>Zero-hours contracts are often touted by businesses as being flexible for the likes of students, which might be the case for some employees. But similar flexibility can be achieved with part-time contracts, which would provide the employee with job and financial security.</p>
<p>The Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (CIPD) <a href="https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/engagement/factsheet#6233">highlights</a> the importance of providing quality jobs for positive employee well-being. But job quality can also increase workforce productivity, innovation and employee engagement. It can also be linked to reducing absence levels and employee turnover. And, as <a href="https://academic.oup.com/esr/article/28/4/443/428346">numerous academics</a> have suggested, job security is a fundamental component of job quality. Zero-hours contracts are not only exploitative but they may also make very little business sense in the long term. </p>
<p>In January 2020, Andy Burnham – the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester – <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/0f37dfb4-403f-11ea-bdb5-169ba7be433d">launched</a> the Good Employment Charter, an informal pledge that commits businesses to paying employees more than the minimum wage and banning the use of zero-hours contracts in Manchester. Burnham said the programme was set up to help lift workers out of <a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/work/in-work-poverty">in-work poverty</a> and provide secure employment.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which is headed by Burnham, does not have the necessary legal powers to force employers to ditch zero-hours contracts. So the informal pledge remains an agreement which could be reneged on.</p>
<p>For an outright ban on zero-hours contracts to take place across the UK, legislation would have to be passed at Westminster. In December 2019, a poll showed that two-thirds of voters supported <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-government-zero-hour-contract-ban-latest-a9257281.html">banning</a> them. But the prime minister, Boris Johnson, has not signalled any intent to do so. And with the Conservatives’ <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2019/results">80 seat majority</a> in the House of Commons, much-needed regulation looks unlikely in the near future.</p>
<p>The UK urgently needs to address the growing casualisation and insecurity that exists in Britain’s labour market – besides the issue of low wages. It is time for the UK government to honestly confront the darker issues lurking beneath the veneer of “positive” employment stats and seemingly impressive wage growth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132338/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Stuart Finlay receives funding from the University of Strathclyde for his doctoral studies. He is also a member of the UCU trade union. </span></em></p>Unemployment may be down, but 3% of Britain’s working population are on zero hours contracts. This isn’t good for people or business and the government needs to act.Brian Stuart Finlay, Doctoral Researcher - Work, Employment and Organisation, University of Strathclyde Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1275352019-11-27T04:19:36Z2019-11-27T04:19:36ZUniversity strikes: yes, students should get compensation – but not in the form of monetary payment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302940/original/file-20191121-479-cda53x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C22%2C4985%2C3308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-march-14-2018-academy-1047254494?src=299978c3-456f-4ac9-8e19-be8ceff2f480-1-76">shutterstock/Ajit Wick</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some students, many of who pay up to £9,250 in tuition fees a year, are <a href="https://wonkhe.com/blogs/unpicking-strikes-tuition-fees-and-possible-refunds/">demanding tuition fee refunds</a> for the university strikes that are currently taking place. Members of the University and College Union (UCU) <a href="https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10408/UCU-announces-eight-days-of-strikes-starting-this-month-at-60-universities">are on strike</a> for eight days between November 25 and December 4. </p>
<p>Like the last strikes in 2018, this latest strike in some institutions is about pensions. But it’s also about pay, equality, casualisation and workloads within <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-losing-sight-of-higher-educations-true-purpose-73637">higher education</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-race-to-turn-higher-education-into-a-market-were-ignoring-lessons-from-history-35792">marketisation</a> of the higher education sector, the value of a <a href="https://network23.org/freeunisheff/files/2015/07/Mike-Molesworth-Richard-Scullion-Elizabeth-Nixon-The-Marketisation-of-Higher-Education-and-the-Student-as-Consumer-book.pdf">student’s university experience</a> is something that cannot be easily quantified in monetary terms. The primary concern of which should be good quality education. And this amounts to much more than a group of lecturers not being present at work for a week. Nevertheless, as customer aware students raise their concerns, it’s worth thinking about this refund request properly. </p>
<h2>The case for why</h2>
<p>As an economist, but also as an educator, I believe students should get a refund – but not in the form of monetary payments. I’ll talk you through why.</p>
<p>Busting the myth that university education is based on lectures and seminars, a fully rounded <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-universities-will-have-to-pay-more-attention-to-the-quality-of-their-teaching-47186">university experience</a> is about much more than contact time. Indeed, students today are taught in many different ways. Yes there are seminars and lectures, but also digital and self-paced training. </p>
<p>Beyond the classroom, universities also offer a much wider range of services. These include libraries, careers advice, student support services, well-being programmes and counselling. It also includes financial advice, English language and maths support, as well as bespoke support for students affected by learning difficulties or disabilities. </p>
<p>Equally important determinants of a good university education are the <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-artificial-intelligence-will-shape-the-future-of-universities-94706">physical spaces</a> – think classrooms, accommodation, recreational areas, and sports facilities. And the social spaces – student societies, volunteering initiatives – as well as the staff and student academic community as a whole. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/missing-from-the-tuition-fees-debate-student-well-being-and-the-public-benefits-of-higher-education-80921">Student fees</a> finance this whole apparatus, not just lectures. This includes the heating of buildings, water supply, carbon emission abatement and much more. While some lecturers will be on strike, and part of the student experience will be disrupted, it’s also true that universities will continue to run all other services.</p>
<p>Another important aspect to be considered is how contact time will be impacted for different degrees. For instance, students attending courses with a lot of teaching time will be deprived of lectures. But students on placements might only be marginally affected by the strike.</p>
<h2>The nature of student fees</h2>
<p>There’s also the fact that although some students (mostly internationals) face the cost of education upfront, many finance their university degree through government loans. When considering services sold against an upfront payment, it might make sense to claim for compensation if the service is suspended. But when universities receive student fees from government loans, the idea that students could claim for compensation against future repayments of a loan becomes more difficult to rationalise. </p>
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<span class="caption">Many universities have taken the position that no refunds for lost teaching will be issued to students.</span>
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<p>Further complicating the matter, is the fact that <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-graduates-will-never-pay-off-their-student-loans-80582">some students will never have to repay their university loan</a>. Graduates are expected to make payments against their loans when their income exceeds a given threshold. But figures show that not all students will ever earn enough – or not consistently over the 30 years before the loan is written off. </p>
<p>From the end of 2018, the Office for National Statistics started to consider <a href="https://obr.uk/box/accounting-treatment-and-policy-developments-affecting-student-loans/">part of student loans as public spending</a>. This decision takes into account that student debt will be written off in the future and implies that if students will not be repaying debt, the taxpayer will. So in theory, taxpayers could also rightfully claim compensation for the university strikes.</p>
<p>Ultimately though, computing the monetary value of compensation students could be entitled is far too complex. And it does not account for the fact that students will be affected by the strikes differently. </p>
<h2>Different kind of compensation</h2>
<p>I am fully supportive of the idea that students should see remedial actions for the disruption they are facing. But it’s important to emphasise that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-top-five-reasons-the-rich-like-to-donate-to-universities-69434">universities are charities</a>. They do not maximise profits but re-invest any excess of revenue over costs on improvements of their facilities and recruitment of additional labour. </p>
<p>Since lecturers participating in strike actions will give up pay, universities will find themselves in the position of accumulating extra funds from unpaid wages. So here is an opportunity for students. These funds could be reinvested in interventions to <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-9-000-students-expect-their-classes-to-go-digital-22775">improve student learning</a> and teaching. This could include refurbishing classrooms, updating technology, investing in better mental health provision and so on. </p>
<p>There is another important advantage of this kind of compensation: since these extra funds are accrued locally, student representation and university management can negotiate how to allocate such funds on the basis of specific needs. And they could even take into consideration which groups of students will be most disrupted by the strike. </p>
<p>Many UK university lecturers are now on strike until December 4. During this time, many students will also stand in solidarity with their teachers. But this doesn’t take away from the fact that students are concerned about missing teaching time. From an economic perspective, fee refunds are not a consistent or fair option. And with the quality of their education at stake, students would not gain much from obtaining a fees refund – teaching enhancement claims are a better way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fabio Aricò has received funding from HEA (now AdvanceHE) and HEFCE (now OfS).</span></em></p>Should students get refunds during strike action? An education economist gives his thoughts.Fabio Aricò, Associate Professor in Macroeconomics, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1230662019-09-24T10:12:08Z2019-09-24T10:12:08ZZero-hours contracts have a devastating impact on career progression – Labour is right to ban them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293668/original/file-20190923-54763-1tzn3to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/confectionery-factory-on-production-cookie-65266003?src=xnseV6PXcQiCGIpNsLXOrA-1-30">shutterstock/RedTC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Labour has reaffirmed its plans to rid the UK of <a href="https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/fair-deal-work/">zero-hours contracts</a>. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell pledged at <a href="https://theconversation.com/labour-party-conference-what-to-expect-as-party-debates-its-brexit-position-and-election-plan-123933">the Labour Party conference</a> to ban the controversial contracts “to make sure every employee has a guaranteed number of hours a week”.</p>
<p>The number of people working on a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/contract-types-and-employer-responsibilities/zero-hour-contracts">zero-hours contract</a> has increased by <a href="https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/work/zero-hours-contract-uk-statistics-job-growth-since-2012/">358% since 2012 – and represents almost 3% of the UK workforce</a>. </p>
<p>Zero-hours contracts do not guarantee a minimum number of hours – meaning the worker is effectively “on call” to work as and when they’re needed. The work offered is unstable with no long-term guarantee of hours or future employment. And this can be a major challenge to career progression. </p>
<p>Despite the <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/780000-workers-are-stuck-zero-hours-contracts-time-ban-them-outright">insecurities</a> associated with this type of contract, workers on zero-hours contract are classed as “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46264291">employed</a>”, which is why the UK can claim the joint <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/august2019">highest employment rate</a> since records began, with 76.1% of people in work. </p>
<h2>Long-term insecurity</h2>
<p><a href="https://fullfact.org/economy/employment-since-2010-zhcs/">It’s been argued</a> that zero-hours contracts are used mostly by those in full-time education along with semi-retired people. But figures show that more than <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/emp17peopleinemploymentonzerohourscontracts">23%</a> of people on zero-hours contracts have worked for their employer for more than five years. </p>
<p>As part of our <a href="http://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/12097546/Report.pdf">research</a>, we interviewed 35 zero-hours contract workers and heard how this precarious employment situation was affecting their career prospects. They told us how working on zero-hours contracts meant ending their aspiration for a career progression. As one of our interviewees explained:</p>
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<p>I’ve got no promotional prospects at all. When I first took the job on I went in to see the principal of the college and I said I’d really like to find out what the promotion possibilities are as I’d really like to be on a permanent contract at some point in the future. And I was basically told there really aren’t any.</p>
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<h2>No training or development</h2>
<p>Zero-hours contracts are not designed with <a href="https://social.hays.com/2017/01/04/six-signs-your-boss-cares-about-your-career-progression/">training and development</a> in mind because the workers are considered to be temporary – needed only when necessary. So the opportunity to take on extra responsibilities – which are relevant for any career progression – are not made available to workers. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-getting-rid-of-shit-jobs-and-the-metric-of-productivity-can-combat-climate-change-123541">How getting rid of 'shit jobs' and the metric of productivity can combat climate change</a>
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<p>Those on zero-hours contract are often given <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/zero-hours-contracts-and-health-and-safety">minimal training</a> and some are asked to pay for their training themselves. This lack of training and development restricts the kinds of jobs workers can do and limits their choices. So irrespective of the length of time a person has been working with an employer, they make no progress, as explained by one of the people we interviewed:</p>
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<p>There is no career progression…[I’ve] been in the job for six and a half years. Since then the role hasn’t changed, no promotion. I’ve got no promotional prospects at all. I asked if I could perhaps go on a course, and I got an absolute no for that one. </p>
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<p>Most zero-hour contract workers are not offered job appraisal, nor investments in longer-term development, or opportunity to discuss their career prospects. One of the people we spoke with explains more:</p>
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<p>Zero hours contracts don’t lend themselves to career development at all, because it’s very rarely you have an appraisal or probationary meeting or anything like that. You don’t really have regular meetings, because I guess the employer feels like you can just quit at any point anyway, so what’s the point?</p>
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<p>Workers also often lack the discretion and autonomy to contribute to the decision making of the business or organisation and feel unable to give feedback on job satisfaction. One of our interviewees explained how they had lots of ideas about how to improve the organisation, but that no one was interested in listening to them:</p>
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<p>I like being proactive and coming forward with creative solutions, but I feel like I’ve put forward a couple of proposals to the management [but] I don’t think they want to know necessarily. So I don’t feel like I’ve got a proper voice within the organisation. I feel quite vulnerable…if I make too much of a fuss I’m worried they might throw me out. I need to tread very, very carefully.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Every worker needs to be able to progress in their jobs and be offered opportunities to progress. This is particularly important given that, more generally, a lack of career progression is one of the <a href="https://engageemployee.com/lack-career-development-key-reason-employees-leaving-jobs/">key reasons</a> most employees leave their job. </p>
<p>Any employment contract that abuses this important workers’ right should be banned. And Labour’s plans to rid the UK of zero-hours contracts is one step closer to ensuring every worker gets a guaranteed number of hours each week, which will allow more people to gain security and fulfilment from their day-to-day working lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People on zero-hours contract are often given minimal training and some workers are even asked to pay for their training themselves.Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi, Senior Lecturer, Law Department, York St John UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1197032019-07-09T10:10:29Z2019-07-09T10:10:29ZZero-hour contracts take a huge mental and physical toll – poor eating habits, lack of sleep and relationship problems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283111/original/file-20190708-51278-1uq0b74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The number of workers on zero-hours contracts <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-zero-hours-contracts-could-be-making-you-ill-77998">continues to rise in the UK</a>. The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/emp17peopleinemploymentonzerohourscontracts">Office for National Statistics (ONS)</a> estimates that between October and December 2018 there were between 777,000 and 911,000 people working on zero-hours contracts. But the impact of such contracts seems to be underestimated by the government.</p>
<p>An independent government <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627671/good-work-taylor-review-modern-working-practices-rg.pdf">review of modern working practices</a> states that: “To ban <a href="https://www.gov.uk/contract-types-and-employer-responsibilities/zero-hour-contracts">zero-hours contracts</a> in their totality would negatively impact many more people than it helped”. The report mentions that almost a fifth of people on zero-hours contracts are in full-time education and banning zero-hour contracts would make it difficult for them to combine work and studying. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/roiw.12316">research</a> has demonstrated how detrimental zero-hour contracts can be on the psychological and mental well-being of workers. <a href="http://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/12097546/Report.pdf">Anxiety, stress and depression</a> can be common for workers on zero-hours contracts because of the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/zero-hours-contracts-are-tip-of-the-iceberg-of-damaging-shift-work-say-researchers">financial and social insecurity</a>. </p>
<p>Workers on zero-hours contracts are not paid sick leave and tend to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34178412">work even when they are ill</a> for fear of losing their jobs. So although <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/mind/world-mental-health-day-charts-show-uk-midst-mental-health-awakening/">statistics</a> show that a third of all sickness notes signed off by GPs between September 2016 and September 2018 were for <a href="https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health">mental health reasons</a>, the reality is that the number of people struggling with mental health problems while in work is likely to be much higher as these statistics do not include workers on zero-hours contracts.</p>
<p>As part of <a href="http://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/12097546/Report.pdf">our research</a>, we interviewed 35 zero-hours contract workers and heard how this precarious employment situation was affecting their lives. They told us how a lack of sufficient sleep, poor eating habits and relationship problems were all contributing to the mental toll of being on a zero-hours contract – as one of our interviewees explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m just tired and don’t have enough sleep … because when you sometimes finish work maybe [at] 11pm, you get home, all you need to do is eat and go to sleep straight away, so you don’t give yourself time for that food to even digest. Everything is mixed up because you are on a zero-hour contract and you don’t work specific times, [so your] timing is not stable.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Zero balance</h2>
<p>For many workers on zero-hours contracts, there is a distinct lack of work-life balance. The uncertainty of not knowing when work might be – during the <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/zero-hour-workers-twice-likely-work-%E2%80%9Chealth-risk%E2%80%9D-night-shifts-%E2%80%93-tuc-analysis">night</a> or day – and when they should sleep, are issues workers on zero-hours contracts must deal with on daily basis.<br>
Financial insecurity also means that workers are unable to refuse work when it’s offered at a time when they should be sleeping. The fear of not getting subsequent job calls means that workers feel they cannot refuse work even if they’re exhausted – which impacts upon their <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322994.php">mood</a> and <a href="https://www.hult.edu/blog/how-sleep-deprivation-affects-work-and-performance/">productivity</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283112/original/file-20190708-51273-qq0400.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283112/original/file-20190708-51273-qq0400.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283112/original/file-20190708-51273-qq0400.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283112/original/file-20190708-51273-qq0400.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283112/original/file-20190708-51273-qq0400.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283112/original/file-20190708-51273-qq0400.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283112/original/file-20190708-51273-qq0400.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People on zero-hour contracts are more than twice as likely to work night shifts, and are paid a third less an hour than other workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The zero-hours contract workers we interviewed also spoke about not having enough time to eat or having poor eating habits due to their unstable working hours. Some workers on zero-hour contracts are given shorter breaks than permanent colleagues – forcing them to skip meals or eat fast food more often. One of our interviewees explained the impact this had on their life:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It really affects stuff like eating … you’re kind of holding on to eat until they let you [and] it affects the way you eat, it affects your social life.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Life on hold</h2>
<p>The workers we spoke with explained how the precariousness of zero-hours contracts meant they had had to miss or cancel family commitments because work suddenly became available. For them, everything has to stop when a job call comes through. Participants spoke of the stress of being pulled in two directions – needing to earn money to meet household expenses but also wanting to spend time with their family or partner. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Sometimes I run into problems with my wife because I haven’t money for the family … when you’ve got kids going to school, you’ve got people who have to eat … you’ve got bills … [and] you’ve got to buy clothes for them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The UK is experiencing <a href="https://londonlovesbusiness.com/employment-hits-record-32-7m-in-work/">record levels of employment</a>, with over 32m people in work. But many workers and their families continue to struggle to survive financially. And as our research shows, although more people may be employed than ever before, the jobs they are in are often precarious, unstable and unreliable. There has also been a rise in the number of people who have to work in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-the-low-pay-workforce-when-seven-jobs-just-isnt-enough-106979">more than one low paid job</a> to make ends meet. </p>
<p>Zero-hours contracts exploit workers. And despite what the government’s report suggests, and the fact that zero-hours contracts tend to work very well for employers, the vast majority of people on zero-hours contracts want out. The only way to tackle this situation is to ban zero-hours contracts altogether. This will enable more people to have access to secure jobs with decent working hours and opportunities for progression.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Barlow is affiliated with Christians on the Left</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Zero-hours contracts exploit workers and need to be banned.Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi, Senior Lecturer and Cohort Tutor, Hertfordshire Law School, University of HertfordshireJanet Barlow, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of HertfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.