A zero-hour contract is an agreement between an employer and employee where the employer will ask an employee to work for them but there are no minimum hours of work contracted to the employee. The employer does not have to offer the employee work and on the other hand the employee does not have to accept a shift. Zero-hours contracts have become a major topic of debate for many business’s and politicians all over the U.K as of recent years. The media has portrayed a very negative image of the zero-hours contract and continuously bring forward the idea that this particular type of contract is old-fashioned and has no place in the 21st century workplace. In today’s modern society where the employee-employer balance is more important than ever …show more content…
Foot, Hook and Jenkins (2016) state that “zero-hours contracts are more commonly used in industries that are highly seasonal or where demand fluctuates from day to day or week to week”. Retail, restaurants and hotels are a few of the industries that have become well known for their use of zero-hours contracts. Capify (2015) argue that due to the fact that their level of productivity depends on the amount of customers using their services that particular day, zero-hours contracts have become a major advantage for these particular industries. The zero-hours contract allows the employer to bring in the amount of staff that they need as and when required which becomes a major cost-saver for the company. The company no longer needs to pay for staff that are not …show more content…
Zero-hours contracts are usually an attractive option for certain groups of people e.g. students, young people and working parents who need the flexibility to care for their children. With the zero-hours contract an employee is not tied to work and therefore they have the flexibility to choose shifts around their personal life. This type of flexibility allows workers to focus on other obligations without having to give up work. Popular sports retailer Sports Direct currently have 20,000 of their 23,000 employees on zero-hours contracts many who say that the flexibility was what attracted them to the