Zero hours contacts increase
02/09/2015
The amount of UK businesses offering zero hour contracts has increased by 6% over the last year, according to official figures.
Data from the Office for National Statistics has shown that there were 1.5 million people employed on zero hour contracts in January this year, which is an increase on the 1.4 million in January 2014. The data is the first collected on zero hour contracts that can be compared to a previous point in time, and shows a steady increase.
Zero hour contracts have proved controversial over the last few years as they do not offer a guaranteed number of working hours for employees. People on zero hour contracts are more likely to be women, in full-time education or in young or older age groups compared with other people in employment, the ONS said. The figure also showed that larger companies with more than 250 employees were more likely to have at least some of their staff on zero hour contracts.
A person on a zero hour contract works 25 hours a week, and the ONS has claimed that around 40% of these would like more hours from their current job.
John Ingham, from employment analysts Galssdoor, said:
"It's no great surprise to see the number of people on these contracts is on the up. The fact that many of those surveyed in the ONS study might not know what a zero hours contract is could mean the scope of the problem is far greater than the figures indicate.
"It's safe to say that employees who accept a zero hours contract do not do so as a career choice. For most it's because they have limited options. For some it might be beneficial to have the flexibility to fit around their lifestyle but for others it's a substandard contract which offers little in the way of benefits or security."
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