Workers remain in zero-hours contract jobs for longer than previously thought, research has found.
Two-thirds of zero-hours workers have been with their current employer for more than a year and approaching half have been in their zero-hours roles for two years, a TUC study has revealed.
The union organisation, using data from another analysis from 2021, suggested that this showed that for most people working zero-hours contracts, their decision to remain with their employer was made because no other jobs were available.
Just 7% of zero-hours workers have been with their current employer less than three months and only 9% of workers said work-life balance was the reason they chose to do this work. The TUC described it as “astonishing” that 12% of zero-hours workers had been with their current “employer” for more than 10 years.
The latest available data show there were 1.15 million people on zero-hours contracts.
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There was a divisive ethnicity dimension behind the figures, said the TUC, with black and minority ethnic women being nearly three times as likely to be on zero-hours contracts as white men (6.8% compared with 2.5%), and the number of black and minority ethnic workers in insecure work more than doubling from 2011 to 2022 (from 360,200 to 836,300). The union body said this reflected “structural racism in the jobs market”.
The loss of control over their earnings for zero-hours workers made it hard for workers to plan their lives, budget and look after their children, said the TUC. Similarly, it made it more difficult for workers to challenge unacceptable behaviour by bosses because of concerns about being penalised by not being allocated hours in future.
Such insecurity was particularly challenging for those who have caring responsibilities, who are overwhelmingly women, said the study’s authors.
The TUC said a ban on zero-hours contracts was “long overdue” – and is calling for all workers to have a right to a contract that reflects their regular hours.
Labour is promising a ban on zero-hours contracts as part of its New Deal for Working People – which it says it will deliver with an employment bill in its first 100 days if elected.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Insecure work has boomed on the Conservatives’ watch over the past 14 years – with the number of workers on zero-hours contracts hitting the one million mark.
“That’s why a ban on zero-hours contracts is long overdue. Working people should have a right to a contract that reflects their regular hours of work.”
He urged businesses “to get on board with Labour’s New Deal for Working People” stating: “The UK’s long experiment with a low-rights, low-wage economy is a complete failure. “Decent, secure jobs are essential to building a motivated, healthy, innovative workforce – all vital for high productivity growth.”
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