To think zero hour contracts should be banned

[Pamplemousecat]

In my view they are useful and lucrative only to the employers. Though they profess to offer flexibility for employees , the vast majority suffer poverty due to unpredictability of hours and wages. They are a way of creating modern day slaves.

Good point re the employer potentially having a bank of staff they can call on. That's not the case at my work, but what I do is quite specialist. I can completely see your point though.

Its because of things like this that people havent got the money to spend on the high street and the high street is dying.

Capitalism is eating itself.

0 Hour contracts are great for people who need a lot of flexibility; young families, students, people who want to supplement another income, people who care for others etc etc

I see why you see them as being ridiculous, and I think if you have been pressured and trapped into one then yes that is appalling. However they have been a lift saver for some people

If it’s not enough to live on then people are free to find something else that better suits the hours they need.

Oh why didn't you say, that's settled then everyone. Just find one of the many part time fixed hours jobs out there people. Easy!

Yanbu. I understand that they are convenient for some, but believe financial security for someone that relies on the job as a main income is more important than flexibility for someone that doesn’t. They’re only acceptable when it’s a significantly high professional hourly wage. Not in the common way they are used.

I agree OP.

They only work if a) significant hours are always on offer, which you can then reject (not always a given) or b) someone else pays your rent/mortgage.

I have no issue with ppl employed on flexible hours, but there should be a minimum guaranteed per week.

A true zero hours contact, when you’re an independent adult and have nothing to fall back on, is utterly shitty.

0 Hour contracts are great for people who need a lot of flexibility; young families,
Not if you're trying to find childcare they aren't

Its also a class issue People higher up the socio economic chain are paid for being on call.

Those on zero hours contracts working cleaning holiday chalets and in supermarkets are not.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss if you're stuck with a zero hour contract because the DWP will sanction you if you don't take it you hardly have the autonomy you so greedily describe. Still I doubt you have any experience of that.

gamer but it depends how they are used. I have a very few very flexible zero hours contracts (I also have a part time permanent job). In all of those I can look when I have childcare available and then state that I am available for work. So I can say when I am free to work rather than work say when they need me to come in. My career will be even more screwed than it is already (I am pretty part time) if zero hours contracts are removed entirely.

YABVVU. I am on a zero hours, term time only contract. I love the flexibility that it gives me, meaning I can take days off when my children are ill, without worrying about how it will affect my job. I can also say no to work when I know the children have an open morning, show or one of the many hospital appointments. Yes the lack of sick pay must be a pain for some, but I'm very lucky in that we don't really need my wages and that I work because I really want to, not because I have to. I love my job and have a manager who is desperate for me to be permanently full time, but I just can't at the moment. It is reassuring to know that I have that option as a back up, but zero hours currently really suits our life balance.

Sorry that should say breezily not greedily.

Sounds like some sort of middle ground needed.

we don't really need my wages

That makes all the difference.

The NHS couldn't run without Bank staff ,which are essentially zero hour workers , IMO thought there is loads of work for bank.staff and they can pick and choose which shifts they want which works very well for a lot of people.

I should add that that in addition to saying no to hours, I can increase them massively when I need to,
money wise, like in the run up to Christmas or for the two months before the summer holidays.

x2boys yes there is real concern with what will happen in NHS staffing if zero hours contracts are removed. As if the staffing isn’t shit enough and it isn’t hard enough working in the NHS with kids.

samsmum sorry, but if you’re collateral damage for the person living in deprivation, then that’s unfortunate, but not a reason to continue the current situation.

I'm on a zero hour contract and although I was led to believe I can take or leave he hours offered this isn't actually the case.
I can't just day 'I can't work next week' etc as there isn't any spare people to fill the hours. I get paid for holidays and have to book time off via an app and they either accept it or deny it.

Tricky one, I can see both sides. I have a zero hour second job. My main job is on a rolling 6 on/4 off shifts pattern so finding anything else that is compatible with that is never going to happen. I enjoy the flexibility of being able to say when I want to work for my 2nd job, but I accept I'm in a fortunate position that I have my main job so I was able to use that proof of income for a mortgage.

@ilovesooty You're right, it does make a huge difference. If DH were to become ill or lose his job,I would be needing a permanent contract and I fully get how frightening that must be when all that's around are zero hour contract, particularly for those with limited options. I agree that there needs to be some middle ground, like an option to become permanent for each role if the employee needs to be. But, like I say, it works for our family right now and without zero hours, I'd probably be economically inactive, as I need a level of flexibility that other contracts can't give.

YANBU op. Bank is very different to zero hours as well.

DH does a zero hours contract - it's a good employer, he gets regular shifts but if he needs time off for childcare he can easily take it. Among his colleagues there are people who live overseas who want to save up their holidays and take 3 or 4 weeks all at once and people who fit a few hours round a 2nd job. Few of them would take a role with fixed hours if offered.
What should be banned is clauses saying the employee has to be available without guaranteeing any hours.

I love 0 hours contracts. I'm signed up to about 3 jobs and have complete control over how much I work.

It never fails to surprise me how many people come on here and claim to love their zero hours yet out in the real world I know of not one person who enjoys/loves or even appreciates their zero hours contracts. The flexibility people on these threads talk of doesn’t seem to be a reality for the majority in the real world. I’m sick of seeing ads for zero hours jobs where complete flexibility of employee but not employer is stipulated.

I’m gonna put on my tinfoil hat for a moment and wonder whether these threads are set up. Cambridge analytica have nothing on a mumsnet thread and manipulation of users opinions by highlighting a majority in support of something everyone else seems to baulk at in real life.