Zero-hours contracts: pros and cons

By Alex Cimpeanu

A zero-hour contract is a casual work agreement between an employer and a worker that seems to have “no strings attached”.

It sounds like the student’s dream to have no minimum hours required – and the employer’s dream not to have to provide workers with hours if unnecessary. 

Aaron Patel, 23, Creative, Digital and Professional Writing (MA) student at London Metropolitan University, says his experience as a casual worker has been good. He considers himself lucky to have been working for the university and only allowed to work a certain number of hours per week. He has been furloughed last year until August, and worked on since then. 

However, others would prefer a proper contract, that would give them the safety of “Whatever happens, I will get paid” – which is especially important in a pandemic that has left so many venues on the verge of bankruptcy. And we’re not talking just about small businesses.

Hospitality: we’re talking about you.

Andrea Forlano, 29, back-of-house store manager at a coffee shop in Piccadilly, has been in and out of work due to the lockdown closures.

With no furlough offered to casuals after the first lockdown, in spite of the constant  40 and sometimes more hours he has worked weekly, he had to seek alternatives. Forlano feels disappointed by the way he’s been treated by the company.

However, he looks at the good side of things and sees the need for a change.

“It’s not my passion,” he says of his job. He is studying to become a personal trainer, as it’s a sport that he really loves doing.

“The situation at work and the whole pandemic gave me the time to think about what it is I really want to do,” Forlano added.

People who work on zero-hours contracts are entitled to get the minimum wage, and to have statutory annual leave. They are also allowed to work elsewhere – a zero-hours employer does not have the right to make their work exclusive.

According to GOV.UK, people on zero-hours contracts:

• are on call to work when you need them – BUT
• you do not have to give them work – AND
• they do not have to do work when asked

The only advice to give on this is to choose what suits best and read the contract carefully!