Zero Hours Contracts

The Government recently launched a Consultation on the use of zero-hours contracts, ending on 13 March 2014. A link to the consultation can be found here:-

Specifically, the consultation focuses upon:-

• the use of exclusivity clauses (which prevent individuals from looking to another employer for work, even if their current employer is offering no work), and
• transparency, in that individuals are often unclear on the terms, effect and consequences of working on a zero hours contract basis.

The Government will consider whether to ban exclusivity clauses all together, whether to provide guidance on the use of zero hours contracts, and whether the Government itself could produce model clauses for such contracts.

Running concurrently to the consultation process however, is also a Private Members’ Bill seeking to prohibit the use of zero hours contracts completely, and in addition, treat as void any such contracts that already exist.

The Zero Hours Contracts Bill was first introduced to Parliament in June 2013, and will have its second reading on Friday 28 February 2014. The text of the Bill has also now been published, which defines a zero hours contract as a "contract or arrangement for the provision of labour which fails to specify guaranteed working hours” and which has one or more of the following features:

A requirement for the worker to be available for work when there is no guarantee the worker will be needed;

• A requirement for the worker to work exclusively for one employer; and

• A situation arises whereby a contract setting out the worker's regular working hours is not produced after the worker has already been employed for 12 consecutive weeks.

If an employer can demonstrate a sufficient and compelling reason to justify the use of a zero hours contract (E.G. confidentiality reasons), the prohibition on exclusivity will not apply. The Bill also entitles an individual to be provided with a contract of employment offering fixed and regular working hours, where a pre-existing zero hours contract is rendered void.

As a Private Members' Bill, the likelihood of the Bill being enacted is, at this stage at least, fairly low. Nevertheless, the Bill and the current consultation paper show at the very least that the issue of zero hours contracts is very much on the Government’s agenda.

If this continues to be the case (especially in light of next year’s general election), it is likely that further developments may follow in the not too distant future.

A link to the progress of the Bill through Parliament can be found here:-

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/zerohourscontracts/stages.html