The opportunity for operators to offer zero-hours contracts seems set to remain in place under the new government despite Labour’s election promises on workers’ rights.
Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay: Delivering A New Deal for Working People outlined changes to employment legislation that would be introduced in the first 100 days of parliament.
Central to the government’s Plan is “ensuring everyone has the right to have a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work, based on a 12-week reference period”.
Nosheen Akhtar, Trainee Solicitor in JMW Solicitors’ employment team, tells routeone she does not expect much change around zero-hours contracts.
“Labour has made it clear it wants to ban ‘exploitive’ zero-hours contracts but has not defined what ‘exploitative’ necessarily means,” says Ms Akhtar, who admits her view is speculative due to a lack of detail in the Plan. “It is believed that staff can remain on a zero-hour contract if they wish to do so.
“The proposal is to provide workers with predictable hours and work by introducing a new duty on employers to provide a contract based on the hours worked in the preceding 12-week period.
“This means that businesses in the sector may be able to continue hiring workers on zero-hour contracts, but the employee may be able to request that this is turned into guaranteed contractual hours, removing the flexibility and choice from employers. However, not all workers want this and some wish to keep their flexibility.”
The plan will not prevent employers from offering fixed-term contract, including seasonal work.
Among Labour’s promises in the Plan was ending “one-sided flexibility”. On this, Ms Akhtar adds: “A lot of operators and businesses benefit from zero-hours contracts as they save labour and admin costs and provide as much flexibility to operators as they do to drivers.
“The risk of abolishing some zero-hours contracts is that it will lessen flexibility on both sides, which is contradictory to Labour’s reasons for ending one-sided flexibility.”
More on possible employment law changes under the new government
