Code of conduct rather than ban needed for zero hours contracts
In a response submitted to the consultation on zero hours contracts (which ends tonight), The Work Foundation has called upon the Government to develop a ‘code of conduct’ instead of implementing any ban. It suggests that this code needs to be combined with the strategic aim, by Government, to discourage the use of involuntary zero hours contracts which people may be forced into due to a lack of regular work.
The submission’s author, Ian Brinkley, Chief Economist at The Work Foundation, asserts that calls to ban zero hours contracts and exclusivity clauses are misplaced. Either move would result in jobs being re-designated and contracts re-drawn as a form of evasion, and ultimately result in large numbers being reclassified from employees to workers resulting in fewer employment rights.
He also notes that the picture varies in each sector and so any code must be further developed with sectoral bodies as the drivers, deployment, and scale of zero hours contracts differ significantly in the NHS, higher education, social care, and retailing and hospitality.
Commenting on the submission, Ian Brinkley said: “The Government must act now, as a matter of urgency, to improve understanding among employers and employees on how zero hours contracts affect their existing employment rights. If employers want to be free of the obligation to offer regular hours, employees must be safe in the knowledge they are free to turn down work without any fear of recrimination.
“Government must now develop a code of conduct and encourage sectoral bodies to provide more detailed advice, given their use is so varied. Public procurement also has a huge role to play. Departments could do worse than to follow the lead of the Minister for Care, Norman Lamb MP, whose initiative in the care sector now asks providers to link their use to the quality of care which has resulted in good practice across the sector.”
The submission marks the start of a focus by The Work Foundation, over the coming months, to build a picture of insecurity at work in Britain.
