Abstract
Zero hours contracts continue to be one of the most controversial topics in the UK labour market. In this chapter, we describe the ongoing growth in zero hours work and subject legal and political narratives surrounding their role in the labour market and implications for individual workers to critical scrutiny. Following a definitional overview, we first set out the most recent empirical evidence on the extent and characteristics of zero hours work. We then turn to the regulatory context, with a particular emphasis on the interaction of tax law and social security provisions with key employment law norms, including both status questions (with particular emphasis on the doctrine of mutuality of obligations) and substantive rights (including the minimum wage and working time protection). We conclude with a discussion of competing explanations and policy positions in recent public debates and offer our own analysis of the problematic implications of a multi-tier workforce in the UK labour market.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Note also the recent Court of Appeal decision: Aslam v Uber BV, [2018] EWCA Civ 2748.
- 2.
HL Deb 23 March 1998 vol 587 cc1026-84, 1049 per Baroness Turner of Camden.
- 3.
HC Deb 21 May 1998 vol 312 cc1103-17, 1104, per Mrs Beckett.
- 4.
HC Deb 21 May 1998 vol 312 cc1103-17, 1104, per Mrs Beckett.
- 5.
HC Deb 31 March 1999 vol 328 cc1110-53, 1130, per Mr Bruce.
- 6.
HC Deb 18 March 1996 vol 274 c32 W, per Mr Forth.
- 7.
This total excludes contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours where work was not carried out in the reference period, and so does not count workers engaged on zero hours contracting arrangements who did not work or who were unable to work, in the 2-week period.
- 8.
Women are more likely to be working under zero hours arrangements, but this is largely because the industries and occupations that women work in are more likely to use zero hours contracts. Controlling for industry and occupation results in the relationship between women and zero hours arrangements becoming insignificant.
- 9.
55 Third Report of Session 2016–17, HC 219, 7.
- 10.
Analysis of the LFS shows that 12% of ZHC workers claimed tax credits compared to 7.9% of workers on other contracts.
- 11.
Workers are there defined as those working (a) under a contract of employment or (b) any other contract […] whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract […].
- 12.
Byrne [17].
- 13.
Including notably the Working Time Regulations 1998 (n 110) and the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. This position has been thrown in doubt by some of the most recent cases in this area, as discussed extensively in (Prassl 2017).
- 14.
Such as for example the annual leave rights in the Working Time Directive: C Barnard, ‘The Working Time Regulations 1998’ (1999) 28 ILJ 61, 62. Though cf now Case C-173/99 R v Department of Trade and Industry (ex parte BECTU) [2001] 3 CML Rev 7.
- 15.
Section 3 National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999.
- 16.
Regulation 34 expressly excludes time travelling between home and workplace. This has harsh implications in certain industries, as can be seen in: Aslam v Uber BV, [2017] IRLR. 4. See also: Thera East v Mr J Valentine Appeal No. UKEAT/0325/16/DM where the court left it to the contract to decide if travel time was ‘work’ that earned a right to be paid. On overnight layovers. See: Baxter v Titan Aviation Ltd (unreported) 30 August 2011 (EAT).
- 17.
Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, Section 153 (the relevant provisions have now become Section 27A(3) of the ERA 1996).
- 18.
Result of the Private Members' Bill ballot: Session 2014–15.
- 19.
Most recently, see the Government’s ‘Good Work Plan’ and associated reforms, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/766167/goodwork-plan-command-paper.pdf.
References
ACAS. (2014). Give and take? Unravelling the true nature of zero-hours contracts. May. Available at: http://m.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/6/n/Acas-Policy-Discussion-Paper-Zero-Hours-May-2014.pdf. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Adams, A., & Prassl, J. (2018). Zero-hours work in the United Kingdom. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.
Adams, A., Freedland, M., & Prassl, J. (2015). Zero-hours contracts in the United Kingdom: regulating casualwork, or legitimating precarity? Giornale di diritto del lavoro e di relazioni industriali.
Adams, Z., & Deakin, S. (2014a). Institutional solutions to precariousness and inequality in labour markets. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 52(4), 779–809.
Adams, Z., & Deakin, S. (2014b). Re-regulating zero hours contracts. Liverpool: Institute of Employment Rights.
Autor, D. H., & Houseman, S. N. (2010). Do temporary-help jobs improve labor market outcomes for low-skilled workers? Evidence from “Work First”. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(3), 96–128.
Bales, K., Bogg, A., & Novitz, T. (2017). ‘Voice’ and ‘Choice’ in modern working practices: Problems with the Taylor review. Industrial Law Journal. https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwx028.
BBC. (2017). Sports Direct ‘broke zero-hours promise’. BBC News, 5 September. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41160746. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Bowden, G. (2017). Forget zero-hour contracts, firms have found another way to keep staff on tenterhooks. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/zero-hours-and-short-hours-contracts_uk_59021d50e4b0026db1df4159. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Bythell, D. (1978). The sweated trades: Outwork in nineteenth-century Britain. St. Martin’s Press New York. Available at: http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/clc/307470. Accessed February 3, 2017.
CIPD. (2013). Zero hours contracts: Myth and reality. November. Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/zero-hours-contracts_2013-myth-reality_tcm18-10710.pdf. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Citizens Advice Bureau. (2013). Citizens Advice warns on zero hours contracts. Available at: http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-citizens-advice-works/media/press-releases/citizens-advice-warns-on-zero-hours-contracts/. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Clement, B. (1995). Burger King pays pounds 106,000 to staff forced to ‘clock off’. The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/burger-king-pays-pounds-106000-to-staff-forced-to-clock-off-1526458.html. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Collins, H. (2000). Note. Employment rights of casual workers. Industrial Law Journal, 29(1), 73–78. https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/29.1.73.
Davies, P. L., & Freedland, M. (2007). Towards a flexible labour market: Labour legislation and regulation since the 1990s. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/20478/. Accessed June 6, 2016.
Deakin, S., & Wilkinson, F. (2005). The law of the labour market industrialization, employment, and legal evolution. Oxford University Press. Available at: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198152811.001.0001/acprof-9780198152811. Accessed September 2, 2015.
Deakin, S. F., & Morris, G. S. (2012). Labour law. Hart publishing.
Department of Business Innovation and Skills. (2013). Consultation: Zero hours employment contracts. Department of Business Innovation and Skills.
Freedland, M. R. (2016). The contract of employment and the paradoxes of precarity. ID 2794877, SSRN Scholarly Paper, 13 June. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2794877. Accessed June 1, 2018.
GOV.UK (2018a). Jobseeker’s allowance (JSA): What type of JSA you get. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/jobseekers-allowance/what-type-you-get. Accessed May 25, 2018.
GOV.UK. (2018b). Universal Credit. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit. Accessed May 25, 2018.
GOV.UK. (2018c). Working tax credit: Eligibility. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/working-tax-credit/eligibility. Accessed May 25, 2018.
Groom, B. (2013). Zero hours: Act with caution. 5 August. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/ab35b3d6-fdbc-11e2-a5b1-00144feabdc0. Accessed May 24, 2018.
HM Government. (2018). Good work: A response to the Taylore review of modern working practices. February. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679765/180206_BEIS_Good_Work_Report.pdf. Accessed May 25, 2018.
HMRC. (2016). ESM2350—Employment status manual—HMRC internal manual—GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-status-manual/esm2350. Accessed May 21, 2018.
HuffPost UK (2017). Forget zero-hour contracts, firms have found another way to keep staff on tenterhooks. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/zero-hours-and-short-hours-contracts_uk_59021d50e4b0026db1df4159. Accessed May 21, 2018.
Hunter. (2013). Banning zero hours contracts would be ‘extremely damaging’. In Fresh business thinking. Available at: http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/banning-zero-hours-contracts-would-be-extremely-damaging/. Accessed May 25, 2018.
Mas, A., & Pallais, A. (2017). Valuing alternative work arrangements. American Economic Review, 107(12), 3722–3759.
McGaughey, E. (2017). Uber fraud, mutuality and the Taylor review.
Molloy, A. (2015). Almost 700,000 UK workers are on a zero-hours contract. The Independent, 25 February. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/zero-hours-contracts-a-reality-for-almost-700000-uk-workers-ons-figures-show-10069528.html. Accessed May 24, 2018.
National Audit Office. (2014). Adult social care in England: Overview—National Audit Office (NAO). In: National Audit Office. Available at: https://www.nao.org.uk/report/adult-social-care-england-overview-2/. Accessed May 25, 2018.
ONS. (2018). Contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours—Office for National Statistics. April. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/contractsthatdonotguaranteeaminimumnumberofhours/april2018#how-many-no-guaranteed-hours-contracts-nghcs-are-there. Accessed May 21, 2018.
Pickavance, N. (2014). Zeroed out: The place of zero-hours contracts in a fair and productive economy. April. http://www.yourbritain.org.uk/uploads/editor/files/ZHCs_report_final_FINAL_240414.pdf.
Prassl, J. (2013). Employee Shareholder “Status”: Dismantling the contract of employment. Industrial Law Journal, 42, 307.
Prassl, J. (2017). Pimlico plumbers, uber drivers, cycle couriers, and court translators: Who is a worker? Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2948712. Accessed July 6, 2017.
Prassl, J. (2018). Humans as a service: The promise and perils of work in the gig economy. Oxford University Press.
Pyper, D., & Powell, A. (2018). Zero-hours contracts. Available at: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06553. Accessed 24 May 24, 2018.
Resolution Foundation. (2013). A matter of time: The rise of zero-hours contracts. Available at: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/matter-time-rise-zero-hours-contracts/. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Rigby, E., Felsted, A., & Robinson, D. (2013). Zero-hours work kept down dole queues, says CBI. Financial Times, 6 August. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/676a3b5a-fec4-11e2-97dc-00144feabdc0. Accessed May 25, 2018.
Ruddick, G. (2016). McDonald’s offer staff the chance to get off zero-hours contracts. The Guardian, 15 April. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/15/mcdonalds-offer-staff-the-chance-to-get-off-zero-hours-contracts. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Shackleton, L. (2013). Zero-hours contracts have their place in the labour market. In Institute of economic affairs. Available at: https://iea.org.uk/blog/zero-hours-contracts-have-their-place-in-the-labour-market/. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Standing, G. (2014). A precariat charter: From denizens to citizens. A&C Black.
Taylor, M. (2017) Good work: The Taylor review of modern working practices—GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/good-work-the-taylor-review-of-modern-working-practices. Accessed August 31, 2017.
TUC. (2013a). Ending the employment relationship—TUC response to the BIS consultation. TUC. Available at: https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/ending-employment-relationship-tuc-response-bis-consultation. Accessed May 24, 2018.
TUC. (2013b). Trades Union Congress—Involuntary temporary jobs driving rising employment. 9 August. Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20141009191553/http:/www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/labour-market/labour-market-and-economic-reports/involuntary-temporary-jobs-driving. Accessed May 24, 2018.
TUC. (2016). Sports Direct has twice the average number of injuries, says trade union shareholders’ letter. Available at: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/sports-direct-has-twice-average-number-injuries-says-trade-union-shareholders%E2%80%99-letter. Accessed May 24, 2018.
UCU. (2015). A report on UCU’s campaign against casualisation 2015–16. November. Available at: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/8355/UCUs-campaign-against-casualisation—annual-report-2015-16/pdf/ucu_anticasannualreport_summary_1516.pdf. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Unison. (2017). Information provided by Unison. Available at: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/communities-and-local-government/Correspondence/2015-20-Parliament/Additional-information-provided-by-UNISON-27-January-2017.pdf. Accessed May 25, 2018.
Unite. (2013). Government must act to halt rise in zero hours. 1 August. Available at: http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/governmentmustacttohaltriseinzerohours/. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Unite. (2015). Unite statement on zero hours exclusivity. In Unite the Union. Available at: http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/unite-statement-on-zero-hours-exclusivity/. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Unite. (2016). Public wants zero hours contracts banned. Available at: http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/public-wants-zero-hours-contracts-banned/. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Unite. (2018). Say no to zero hours contracts campaign - Unite the Union. Accessed February 25, 2019.
Williams, Z. (2016). Even employers decry zero-hours contracts. So why are staff still being exploited? The Guardian, 9 June. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/09/zero-hours-contracts-staff-exploited-businesses-inequality-workplace. Accessed May 24, 2018.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Adams, A., Adams, Z., Prassl, J. (2019). Legitimizing Precarity: Zero Hours Contracts in the United Kingdom. In: O’Sullivan, M., et al. Zero Hours and On-call Work in Anglo-Saxon Countries. Work, Organization, and Employment. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6613-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6613-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-6612-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-6613-0
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)