WIREDGOV

Changes to end one-sided flexibility and uncertainty for workers through ban on exploitative zero hours contracts set out in consultation.

• Changes will end one-sided flexibility, help people plan their finances and daily lives, or enjoy benefits of a zero hours contract if they wish to keep one.
• This will help save workers in some of the most deprived areas up to £600 in lost income from the hidden costs of insecure work.
• Millions of workers who currently face uncertainty over their weekly hours and earnings will benefit from government reforms that will give them certainty and predictability over their income.

Ministers have today taken the next step to ending exploitative zero hours contracts by launching a consultation to help deliver reforms to benefit more than 18 million people who currently face uncertainty over their weekly hours and earnings. 

Nearly six in ten of workers who have variable hours currently receive less than a week’s notice of their shifts, according to the Living Wage Foundation. That means millions of working people struggling to plan their lives and budgets. In the worst cases it means shifts cancelled the night before or even while people are already on their way to work.  

This will help save workers in some of the most deprived areas up to £600 in lost income from the hidden costs of insecure work. 

While those who value the flexibility of a zero hours contract will still be able to choose one, exploitative arrangements, where employers take all the flexibility and workers bear all the risk, will be banned.  

Workers, who qualify, will also be entitled to receive reasonable notice of their shifts and a payment if their shifts are cancelled, moved, or curtailed at short notice. This will stop workers travelling into work for shifts or arranging care for children and relatives, only for a shift to be cancelled at the last minute without pay. 

This open consultation, which will close at the end of August, will ask employers and workers about a range of potential hours thresholds to help the Government to strike the right balance between protecting workers from insecure work and retaining flexibility for businesses and workers who benefit from it, while building a more resilient economy and guarding against unintended consequences from this major change to the Labour market. 

Employers who already provide this security and predictability for their workers will benefit from a level playing field. These measures will help drive up standards and eliminate undercutting. 

Click here for the full press release