Student
12199710

University of South Wales

Abstract

This paper focuses on the effect that temporary employment such as zero hour contracts have on the wellbeing of employees, it gives a brief definition of what a zero hour contract is, and how they have changed throughout the years eg how they were used in previous years before being called zero hour contracts, why the use of zero hour contracts is on the rise in the UK business market, and investigates the benefits and detriments of these contracts in regards to employees, it will also look at the financial benefits to the employers who use these contracts, and the type of culture that surrounds the employees who are employed on these contracts, It will also investigate
Rodgers, E, (2013) and Brinkley, I, (2013) agree that the use of zero hour contracts fluctuates according to demand and the fear of redundancy, and in an employment recovery where there has been a shortage of permanent jobs means that employers are reluctant to offer permanent positions to employees thus increasing the use of zero hour contracts, as this enables the employers to keep costs low.

The diagram below shows the percent of people in employment on a zero hour contract.Level and rate of people on zero-hours contracts1,2|
October to December, each year | | |
| | | | | |UK, not seasonally adjusted| | |In employment on a zero hour contract (thousands)|Percent of people in employment on a zero hour contract| |
2000|225|0.81| |
2001|176|0.63| |
2002|156|0.55| |
2003|124|0.44| |
2004|108|0.38| |
2005|119|0.41| |
2006|147|0.50| |
2007|165|0.56| |
2008|143|0.49| |
2009|190|0.65| |
2010|168|0.57| |
2011|189|0.65| |
2012|250|0.84| |
2013|583|1.93|**|
| | | | | |Source: ONS Labour Force Survey| | | | | |
1 Zero-hours contract - is where a person is not contracted to work a set number of hours, and is only paid for the number of hours that they actually work.| |
2 Series adjusted for pre-2006 change from seasonal to calendar quarters and for missing cases that cannot be brought