TY - BOOK

T1 - Zero Choices

T2 - Swapping zero-hour contracts for secure, flexible working

AU - Martin, Alice

AU - Williams, George

AU - Atay Budak, Asli

AU - Florisson, Rebecca

PY - 2024/3/20

Y1 - 2024/3/20

N2 - At a time when the UK faces record sickness levels and persistent worker shortages, there is a pressing need to reform employment law to better reflect the realities of modern ways of working in the 21st century.New research by the Work Foundation at Lancaster University has found a record 1.1 million working age people are on zero-hours contracts in the UK, as their main form of employment. Zero-hour contracts are an enduring example of insecure work and the trade-offs faced by people at the sharp end of the labour market. Regulating against the exploitative use of zero-hour contracts should serve as an important component of a wider package of reforms promoting secure work in the next Parliament. ​In this policy brief we investigate the contemporary use of zero-hours contracts in the UK and examine policy options for reform from comparable countries, with a particular focus on how to introduce regulation in a way that extends contractual security and guaranteed hours while maintaining opportunities for flexibility. 

AB - At a time when the UK faces record sickness levels and persistent worker shortages, there is a pressing need to reform employment law to better reflect the realities of modern ways of working in the 21st century.New research by the Work Foundation at Lancaster University has found a record 1.1 million working age people are on zero-hours contracts in the UK, as their main form of employment. Zero-hour contracts are an enduring example of insecure work and the trade-offs faced by people at the sharp end of the labour market. Regulating against the exploitative use of zero-hour contracts should serve as an important component of a wider package of reforms promoting secure work in the next Parliament. ​In this policy brief we investigate the contemporary use of zero-hours contracts in the UK and examine policy options for reform from comparable countries, with a particular focus on how to introduce regulation in a way that extends contractual security and guaranteed hours while maintaining opportunities for flexibility. 

M3 - Other report

BT - Zero Choices

PB - The Work Foundation

CY - London

ER -