Even as the Tories brag that unemployment in Britain is at its lowest level since 1975, and has fallen by 3.5 percent since they came into power in 2010, job insecurity across the UK has risen sharply. In fact, data show the number of people on zero-hours contracts in Britain is now at a record high.
The reason for this confusion: much of the "employment" touted by conservatives is shrouded in precarity and uncertainty. Disguised as "flexible" employment, zero-hours contracts involve employees not knowing how much work they will get from week to week. They are often left waiting for a phone call each week, or day, informing them whether their services will be required or not.
Because of this job insecurity, zero-hours workers can find it difficult to budget and aren’t entitled to traditional employment benefits such as sick pay.
Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that at the end of 2016, more than 900,000 people were employed with zero-hours contracts across the UK – 2.9 percent of the employed workforce. This is four times higher than in 2000.
But opponents to zero-hour contracts say the figure grossly underestimates the actual number, since many people aren’t even aware that they're on a zero-hours contract. In response to the ONS data, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) is urging government to provide more support for workers who aren't guaranteed a set number of hours each week.
In-work poverty
TUC research shows that those on zero-hours contracts earn 50 percent less an hour than fully employed workers. This is because such workers typically only get paid for the work they do and receive nothing when they are effectively "on call" and waiting for work.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, spoke of the exploitative nature of zero-hour contacts, telling The Guardian: “Zero-hours contracts have become an easy way for bosses to employ staff on the cheap. There is no getting away from the fact that zero-hours workers earn less money and have fewer rights than people with permanent jobs.”
Notoriously low-paid industries rely on zero-hour contracts the most, including the leisure and hotel, retail and restaurant sectors. Social care and health services are increasingly demanding this flexible pattern of working among staff. The care industry alone is estimated to employ around 160,000 workers on zero-hour contracts.
Zoe, 31, from Bristol, says she was employed on a "casual staff" basis by a local leisure center. Talking to Occupy.com, Zoe said she had no sense of job security since she never knew how many shifts she would be working that week. “Paying the bills became difficult,” she said, “Work was extremely haphazard. You never knew how much you could put away to take care of the bills and how much you would have for living off.”
In the end, “after six months of living under such financial stress I gave in my notice," added Zoe, who is now working in an office administration role. "The pay isn’t great but at least I get a set amount of work each week and I know where I’m going. I wouldn’t recommend zero-hours contracts to anyone.”
Women and young people most heavily affected
According to research, women and young people are more likely to be on zero-hours contracts. Data from the Young Women’s Trust show as many as one in three young women in Britain have been offered a working contract with no guaranteed hours. The trust, which supports young women struggling on little to no pay in England and Wales, says budgeting and planning ahead is rendered “impossible” for people on zero hours contracts.
A report compiled by the Young Women’s Trust additionally found that young people from the lowest socioeconomic groups are the most likely to be worried about job security and not having enough work hours each week. The report's authors conclude:
“We urge policymakers to focus activity on where the need is greatest, on those young people who are losing out the most. And what is very clear from our survey is that while life is hard for many young people, it’s likely to be considerably tougher if you’re a young woman, BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic), a parent and/or from a lower socio-economic group. Addressing these inequalities should be at the heart of government policy.”
Fighting back
These exploitative working contracts, and the financial anguish and uncertainty they create, is causing many to hit back and demand that this type of work be stamped out. The Labour Party has long condemned employers’ use of zero-hours contracts, along with the exploitation of migrant workers and the rise of insecure agency working. The opposition party has promised that a Labour government would reform the country’s labour market to ensure working conditions that have been “savagely undermined” during the Tories' reign be made fair for all.
Unite the Union, Britain’s biggest trade union that campaigns for equality for all, aims to challenge employers and end the exploitation of zero-hour contracts. Unite criticises the exploitation of this type of working contract, saying it is a weapon for employers to cut wages, avoid paying holiday pay, pensions and other employee benefits. It condemns the fact that those working on zero-hour contracts are under obligation to be available for work at the “whim of the employer”, even if the work does not become available.
Workers themselves are also fighting back against the rise of casual work in Britain and the financial insecurity it almost inevitably brings. For example, staff from East London McDonald’s restaurants voted in favour of taking strike action over pay and poor working conditions, including the use of zero-hours contracts.
The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union said McDonald’s staff are demanding more secure working hours and a pay rise to at least £10 per hour. The walk-out will be the first time the American fast food chain has faced strike action on British soil.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn supports the strike, saying the McDonald’s employees are standing up for workers’ rights. “Their demands – an end to zero hours contracts by the end of the year, union recognition and a £10 per hour minimum wage – are just and should be met,” Corbyn told the Independent.
Despite growing antagonism and action against zero-hours contracts, Prime Minister Theresa May and her Conservative government have refused to abolish the practice. A recent major review of employment laws in Britain, compiled by the government, called for a cashless society in order to put an end to cash-in-hand jobs that have resulted in some £6 billion going untaxed.
However, May has rejected calls to end zero-hours contracts. The chancellor Philip Hammond is likely to use his Autumn Budget to announce measures on the "hidden economy", which would see the Treasury gain several billion pounds in additional revenue. Meanwhile, more zero-hours contract employees continue to work in an environment of insecurity, low pay and changing hours that make it hard to pay the bills and survive.
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