Monday, March 10, 2014

Fact of the Day

The scale of the use of zero-hours contracts has been revealed after a revision of official figures showed that nearly 583,000 employees – more than double the government's estimate,  three times higher than the number given for the year the coalition was formed in 2010. There is suggestion that the ONS might still be underestimating the figure. Britain's largest trade union, Unite, has cited research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) which has said that 1 million workers are on the contracts.

As Robert Burns once penned "facts are chiels that winna ding and canna be disputed" (facts are fellows that will not be upset, And can not be called into question )

These contracts allow employers to hire staff without any obligation to guarantee a minimum number of working hours. They are used widely in the social care sector, by hotels and many retailers.

The union Unite said it “believes that, in general, zero-hours contracts are unfair, creating insecurity and exploitation for many ordinary people struggling to get by."


No comments: