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UK - 744,000 people with zero-hours contracts

02 September 2015

There were 744,000 people on a zero-hours contract in their main job, as reported to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Labour Force Survey for April-June 2015. This is 2.4% of all people in employment.

The latest estimate for employees on a zero-hours contract is an increase from the 624,000 people who reported this at the same time last year, or 2.0% of those in work. Two-thirds of the increase is from people in their job for more than a year and so the overall increase, according to the ONS, does not necessarily relate to new zero hours contracts. It could have been due either to increased recognition or to people moving on to a zero-hours contract with the same employer.

Women made up 54% of those on zero-hours contracts, compared with 47% of other workers. Zero-hours contracts were common among students, with 20% of people on them being in full-time education, compared with just 3% of other workers.

ONS has also published updated results from its survey of employee contracts used by businesses, the first time that these have been available for a fully comparable time period. The latest figures show that there were around 1.5 million contracts that did not guarantee a minimum number of hours where some work was carried out in a particular fortnight in January 2015. This compares with 1.4 million such contracts where some work was done in the equivalent fortnight in January 2014. This increase, however according to the ONS, is not statistically significant.

Commenting on these figures, senior ONS statistician Nick Palmer said: “Both measures suggest there may have been a small trend towards more use of zero-hours contracts, although the usual margins of error associated with the surveys’ estimates mean that we cannot be certain of this. Moreover, as previously, the results from the Labour Force Survey might have been influenced by increased recognition of the term ‘zero hours contract’ among respondents.”

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Zero-hours contracts are a stark reminder of Britain’s two-tier workforce. People employed on these contracts earn £300 a week less, on average, than workers in secure jobs. Try telling zero-hours workers who have been turned down by mortgage lenders and landlords that they are getting a good deal”.

Research published by the TUC shows that average weekly earnings for zero-hours workers are just £188, compared to £479 for permanent workers.

Two-fifths (39 per cent) of zero-hours workers earn less than £111 a week – the qualifying threshold for statutory sick pay – compared to one in twelve (8 per cent) permanent employees.

The TUC estimates that in addition to Britain’s zero-hours workforce there are another 820,000 UK employees who report being underemployed on between 0 and 19 hours a week.

Comments were not available from the CBI or the IOD.

According  to Fiona Coombe, SIA’s Director of Legal and Regulatory Research:

“The exclusivity ban on zero hours contracts only came into force at the end of May this year for all existing exclusive zero hours contracts in force on the 27 May 2015, as well as contracts entered into after that date. It will not be evident for some time whether the ban on employers insisting that their employees work exclusively for them, has had an impact on the use of such contracts”.

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To read the full report from the ONS, click here