Vince Cable in favor of reformed 'Zero-hour' contracts

During the launch of a 12-week consultation concerning the much disputed zero-hour contracts, business secretary Vince Cable announced the possibility of introducing limitations to “exclusivity contracts” that some employers use to prevent

zero-hour contractors from working for other companies.

Cable believes that there is still room for zero-hour contracts in the UK's labour market, despite evidence of employers abusing employees with the controversial contracts. "We believe they have a place in today's labour market and are not proposing to ban them outright, but we also want to make sure that people are getting a fair deal," said Cable.

Zero-hour contracts to stay, for now

Business leaders were pleased with Cable's decision not to ban zero-hour contract, but the union trade leaders claimed that Cable was “desperately short on solutions” to limit the misuse of zero-hour contracts.

The consultation was launched after growing concerns surrounding zero-hour contracts, which allows employers to schedule in employees when needed and only pay them for the hours they work. However this often occurs at short notice, or shifts are can celled at the last moment, with certain contracts dictating that employees must work shift they are given.

Cable said that he wants employers to clearly stipulate the agreements of a zero-hour contract so employees will be able to see what limitations the contract offers. He told the BBC that he was “minded to ban the exclusivity contracts”, that prevent employees from working for another firm whilst having a zero-hour contract at one company. He added that employees should not be “tied to one employer” if it prevented them from increasing their income, if they were not making enough to survive. Cable stressed that employers and employees need further guidance about zero-hour contracts and that employer's need for a flexible workforce should not cause employees to suffer.

In a previous interview, Peter Cheese CEO of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said: “The use of zero-hours contracts in the UK economy has been underestimated, oversimplified and in some cases, unfairly demonised.” He adds that zero-hour contracts are very common in professional fields like catering, retail and the public service sector.

According to Office for National Statistics figures, roughly 250,000 workers are on zero-hours contracts, which is about one percent of the UK workforce. Research from the CIPD shows that 65 percent of UK employees with a zero-hour contract were happy with the balance of their work life and personal life, compared to 58 percent of UK employees with a fixed contract.

Photo: Business Secretary Vince Cable courtesy of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills