Staff at a Humberside car company have won an unfair dismissal case, after objecting to the introduction of a “zero hours” working pattern.
Workers at Paragon Automotive claimed unfair dismissal after their employers ended their previous contracts for 40 or 50 hours a week.
They were replaced with contracts enabling Paragon to dictate the number of hours worked by staff.
These “zero hours” contracts were condemned by the workers’ solicitor. He said “they provide no certainty for the workers”.
The 17 workers, all members of Unite the Union, signed the new zero hours contract on the proviso that they would challenge it, according to the Grimsby Telegraph.
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Of the 17, two won compensation at an employment Tribunal in Leeds, while 15 reached an out-of-court settlement at a Hull employment tribunal, securing reinstatement to their original contracts.
Unite’s Malcolm Hancock said: “These were extremely Draconian measures, but our members demonstrated that by standing together they could protect their terms and conditions”.
