Cidersomerset
5th August 2013, 06:27
http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.48.3/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png
5 August 2013 Last updated at 04:06
Zero-hours contracts 'more widespread than thought'
Healthcare workers in the UK Zero-hours contracts are found mostly in the
healthcare, education and hospitality industries Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Numbers on zero hours contracts rise
Ban zero hours contracts - Burnham
What are zero hours contracts?
More than a million UK workers are on zero-hours contracts with no guarantees of shifts
or work patterns - four times official estimates, research suggests.A survey of 1,000
employers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development indicated 3-4% of
the whole workforce were on such contracts.
Some 14% of affected staff could not earn a basic standard of living.
A review of the contracts by Business Secretary Vince Cable is already under way, amid
union calls to ban them. Under zero-hours contracts employees agree to be available for
work as and when it is required. Figures from the Office for National Statistics last week
suggested 250,000 workers were on zero-hours contracts.The news emerged as it was
reported that part-time staff at retailer Sports Direct and a number of London councils
were among those employed on such terms.
Fluctuating wages
According to the CIPD's research, firms in the voluntary and public sectors were more
likely to use zero-hours contracts than those in the private sector.The industries where
employers were most likely to report having at least one person on a zero-hours
contracts were hotels, catering and leisure, education and healthcare.The CPID said one
in five employers in the UK had at least one person on a zero-hours contract. This
means workers can be officially counted as employed, but have no guaranteed paid
work and can be sent home from their workplace without warning and without having
earned anything.
While zero-hours contracts may suit some due to the flexibility they provide, critics
point out that the system can lead to fluctuating wages and a risk that managers may
use their contract as both reward and punishment.At places of employment found to be
using the contracts, the average number of workers who were on them was around 16%
, according to CIPD.Based on these figures, CIPD calculated that between 3% and 4%
of all workers are on zero-hour contracts - equating to a million people in the UK labour
force.
The employees who took part in the poll worked an average of just under 20 hours a
week and were most likely to be aged between 18 and 24 or over 55.Further research
regarding 148 employees on zero-hours contracts showed that 14% reported their
employer often or very often failed to provide them with sufficient hours to have a basic
standard of living.Some 38% described themselves as employed full-time, working 30
hours or more a week.
Flexibility for employers
Commenting on the results, CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese said: "There does need
to be a closer look at what is meant by a zero-hours contract, the different forms that
they take, and clearer guidance on what good and bad practice in their use looks like.
"Zero-hours contracts, used appropriately, can provide flexibility for employers and
employees and can play a positive role in creating more flexible working opportunities.
"However, for some this may be a significant disadvantage where they need more
certainty in their working hours and earnings... Zero-hours contracts cannot be used
simply to avoid an employer's responsibilities to its employees."
Business Secretary
The University and College Union said such contracts used among teaching staff denied
them financial security or stability and left students without continuity.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison union, said: "The vast majority of workers
are only on these contracts because they have no choice. They may give flexibility to a
few, but the balance of power favours the employers and makes it hard for workers to
complain."
He added: "The growing number of zero-hours contracts also calls into question
government unemployment figures."Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "For some
these can be the right sort of employment contract, giving workers a choice of working
patterns.
"However for a contract that is now more widely used, we know relatively little about its
effect... There has been anecdotal evidence of abuse by certain employers - including in
the public sector."
Mr Cable went on: "While it's important our workforce remains flexible, it is equally
important that it is treated fairly. This is why I have asked my officials to undertake
some work over the summer to better understand how this type of contract is working
in practice today."
But shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said zero-hours contracts should be the
exception to the rule and called for a formal consultation.
He said: "While some employees welcome the flexibility of such contracts, for many
zero-hours contracts leave them insecure, unsure of when work will come, and
undermining family life.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69112000/jpg/_69112371_healthcareworkersuk.jpg
"The 'review' the business secretary has established into zero-hours contracts is clearly
inadequate given the seriousness of this issue and the mounting evidence of the abuse
of zero-hours contracts."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23570345
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This ties in with the other thread I put up , that if we are not alert the 'Dickensian'
Boss's will be back and we will have modern 'workhouses ' on the agenda and we
will be saying............." Please Sir Can I have some more" ??
9lEDDsBKSxU
====================================================
Ex-Amazon workers talk of 'horrendous' conditions
All though not the same as Asian Sweatshops, the
corporations are trying to put back working conditions
decades.....Terror & Financial collapses is how the
elites control us and run the world....
gYUJjpIxkCU
Published on 1 Aug 2013
http://i1.ytimg.com/i/TrQ7HXWRRxr7OsOtodr2_w/1.jpg?v=a2bac9
Hundreds of employees of online store Amazon on zero hours contracts are
subjected to a regime described as "horrendous" and "exhausting", it is claimed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are employers abusing zero hours contracts?
h7OG1GJT42g
Published on 1 Aug 2013
Jon speaks to Lizzie Crowley, senior researcher from the Work Foundation, Kevin
Green, CEO of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, and by the Labour MP
Alison McGovern.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tax Avoidance - Starbucks, Google And Amazon 'Immoral'
U2wtN0uciac
Apparently they are not breaking any laws , which only proves
the Crooks are policing the Crooks in government....
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?61940-Modern-Sweatshops.....Ex-Amazon-workers-talk-of-horrendous-conditions
5 August 2013 Last updated at 04:06
Zero-hours contracts 'more widespread than thought'
Healthcare workers in the UK Zero-hours contracts are found mostly in the
healthcare, education and hospitality industries Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Numbers on zero hours contracts rise
Ban zero hours contracts - Burnham
What are zero hours contracts?
More than a million UK workers are on zero-hours contracts with no guarantees of shifts
or work patterns - four times official estimates, research suggests.A survey of 1,000
employers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development indicated 3-4% of
the whole workforce were on such contracts.
Some 14% of affected staff could not earn a basic standard of living.
A review of the contracts by Business Secretary Vince Cable is already under way, amid
union calls to ban them. Under zero-hours contracts employees agree to be available for
work as and when it is required. Figures from the Office for National Statistics last week
suggested 250,000 workers were on zero-hours contracts.The news emerged as it was
reported that part-time staff at retailer Sports Direct and a number of London councils
were among those employed on such terms.
Fluctuating wages
According to the CIPD's research, firms in the voluntary and public sectors were more
likely to use zero-hours contracts than those in the private sector.The industries where
employers were most likely to report having at least one person on a zero-hours
contracts were hotels, catering and leisure, education and healthcare.The CPID said one
in five employers in the UK had at least one person on a zero-hours contract. This
means workers can be officially counted as employed, but have no guaranteed paid
work and can be sent home from their workplace without warning and without having
earned anything.
While zero-hours contracts may suit some due to the flexibility they provide, critics
point out that the system can lead to fluctuating wages and a risk that managers may
use their contract as both reward and punishment.At places of employment found to be
using the contracts, the average number of workers who were on them was around 16%
, according to CIPD.Based on these figures, CIPD calculated that between 3% and 4%
of all workers are on zero-hour contracts - equating to a million people in the UK labour
force.
The employees who took part in the poll worked an average of just under 20 hours a
week and were most likely to be aged between 18 and 24 or over 55.Further research
regarding 148 employees on zero-hours contracts showed that 14% reported their
employer often or very often failed to provide them with sufficient hours to have a basic
standard of living.Some 38% described themselves as employed full-time, working 30
hours or more a week.
Flexibility for employers
Commenting on the results, CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese said: "There does need
to be a closer look at what is meant by a zero-hours contract, the different forms that
they take, and clearer guidance on what good and bad practice in their use looks like.
"Zero-hours contracts, used appropriately, can provide flexibility for employers and
employees and can play a positive role in creating more flexible working opportunities.
"However, for some this may be a significant disadvantage where they need more
certainty in their working hours and earnings... Zero-hours contracts cannot be used
simply to avoid an employer's responsibilities to its employees."
Business Secretary
The University and College Union said such contracts used among teaching staff denied
them financial security or stability and left students without continuity.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison union, said: "The vast majority of workers
are only on these contracts because they have no choice. They may give flexibility to a
few, but the balance of power favours the employers and makes it hard for workers to
complain."
He added: "The growing number of zero-hours contracts also calls into question
government unemployment figures."Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "For some
these can be the right sort of employment contract, giving workers a choice of working
patterns.
"However for a contract that is now more widely used, we know relatively little about its
effect... There has been anecdotal evidence of abuse by certain employers - including in
the public sector."
Mr Cable went on: "While it's important our workforce remains flexible, it is equally
important that it is treated fairly. This is why I have asked my officials to undertake
some work over the summer to better understand how this type of contract is working
in practice today."
But shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said zero-hours contracts should be the
exception to the rule and called for a formal consultation.
He said: "While some employees welcome the flexibility of such contracts, for many
zero-hours contracts leave them insecure, unsure of when work will come, and
undermining family life.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69112000/jpg/_69112371_healthcareworkersuk.jpg
"The 'review' the business secretary has established into zero-hours contracts is clearly
inadequate given the seriousness of this issue and the mounting evidence of the abuse
of zero-hours contracts."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23570345
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This ties in with the other thread I put up , that if we are not alert the 'Dickensian'
Boss's will be back and we will have modern 'workhouses ' on the agenda and we
will be saying............." Please Sir Can I have some more" ??
9lEDDsBKSxU
====================================================
Ex-Amazon workers talk of 'horrendous' conditions
All though not the same as Asian Sweatshops, the
corporations are trying to put back working conditions
decades.....Terror & Financial collapses is how the
elites control us and run the world....
gYUJjpIxkCU
Published on 1 Aug 2013
http://i1.ytimg.com/i/TrQ7HXWRRxr7OsOtodr2_w/1.jpg?v=a2bac9
Hundreds of employees of online store Amazon on zero hours contracts are
subjected to a regime described as "horrendous" and "exhausting", it is claimed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are employers abusing zero hours contracts?
h7OG1GJT42g
Published on 1 Aug 2013
Jon speaks to Lizzie Crowley, senior researcher from the Work Foundation, Kevin
Green, CEO of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, and by the Labour MP
Alison McGovern.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tax Avoidance - Starbucks, Google And Amazon 'Immoral'
U2wtN0uciac
Apparently they are not breaking any laws , which only proves
the Crooks are policing the Crooks in government....
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?61940-Modern-Sweatshops.....Ex-Amazon-workers-talk-of-horrendous-conditions