[UK] Majority of zero-hours workers have been with their employer for over a year

According to analysis from the TUC, hundreds of thousands of workers in the UK remain on zero-hours contracts despite being with the same employer for years, The Guardian reports.

The TUC found that the majority of zero-hours contract workers have been with their employer for more than 12 months, while one in eight have not been granted regular employment rights after more than a decade working in the same place.

More than a million people are reportedly working on a zero-hours contract basis and the TUC said a clear majority of them - around 720,000 workers - have been with their current employer for over a year, based on ONS labour force data.

About 130,000 people remained retained on zero-hours contracts after 10 years with the same employer.

The analysis was published in the wake of union leaders saying that insecure work was holding back economic growth and in the face of Conservative attacks on the UK government’s employment rights bill.

The bill was introduced to parliament in October 2024, however, it is not expected to become law until at least 2026. It includes provisions to give zero-hours workers the right to a guaranteed contract if they are employed to work the same hours for an extended period.

TUC polling reportedly revealed that only one in seven zero-hours contract workers say they are happy not to have regular working hours.

The average zero-hours contract worker earns about a third less - at around £10.68 - than the median hourly rate of £15.69, the TUC analysis showed.

Paul Nowak - general secretary of the TUC - said, “Zero-hours contracts give bosses almost total control of workers’ earning power and hours – making it a nightmare for families to plan budgets and childcare.

“After 14 years of Conservative decline, the era of low rights, low pay and low productivity has been tested to destruction. Those defending the broken status quo are putting their own vested interests ahead of working people’s lives and ignoring the evidence in front of their eyes.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson told The Guardian, “Our employment rights bill will end exploitative zero-hours contracts by giving workers a right to guaranteed hours, new rights to reasonable notice of shift, and payment for shifts that are cancelled or moved at short notice.

“We are committed to ending one-sided flexibility to ensure workers have more predictability to better plan their lives and finances.”

The employment rights bill will also reportedly introduce reforms including an immediate right to paternity leave and protection from unfair dismissal for new hires; sick pay from the first day of sick leave; and an end to “fire-and-rehire”, where firms have sacked employees and brought them back on inferior terms and conditions.

Source: The Guardian 

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

According to analysis from the TUC, hundreds of thousands of workers in the UK remain on zero-hours contracts despite being with the same employer for years, The Guardian reports.

The TUC found that the majority of zero-hours contract workers have been with their employer for more than 12 months, while one in eight have not been granted regular employment rights after more than a decade working in the same place.

More than a million people are reportedly working on a zero-hours contract basis and the TUC said a clear majority of them - around 720,000 workers - have been with their current employer for over a year, based on ONS labour force data.

About 130,000 people remained retained on zero-hours contracts after 10 years with the same employer.

The analysis was published in the wake of union leaders saying that insecure work was holding back economic growth and in the face of Conservative attacks on the UK government’s employment rights bill.

The bill was introduced to parliament in October 2024, however, it is not expected to become law until at least 2026. It includes provisions to give zero-hours workers the right to a guaranteed contract if they are employed to work the same hours for an extended period.

TUC polling reportedly revealed that only one in seven zero-hours contract workers say they are happy not to have regular working hours.

The average zero-hours contract worker earns about a third less - at around £10.68 - than the median hourly rate of £15.69, the TUC analysis showed.

Paul Nowak - general secretary of the TUC - said, “Zero-hours contracts give bosses almost total control of workers’ earning power and hours – making it a nightmare for families to plan budgets and childcare.

“After 14 years of Conservative decline, the era of low rights, low pay and low productivity has been tested to destruction. Those defending the broken status quo are putting their own vested interests ahead of working people’s lives and ignoring the evidence in front of their eyes.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson told The Guardian, “Our employment rights bill will end exploitative zero-hours contracts by giving workers a right to guaranteed hours, new rights to reasonable notice of shift, and payment for shifts that are cancelled or moved at short notice.

“We are committed to ending one-sided flexibility to ensure workers have more predictability to better plan their lives and finances.”

The employment rights bill will also reportedly introduce reforms including an immediate right to paternity leave and protection from unfair dismissal for new hires; sick pay from the first day of sick leave; and an end to “fire-and-rehire”, where firms have sacked employees and brought them back on inferior terms and conditions.

Source: The Guardian 

(Link and quotes via original reporting)