Zero Hour Contract

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

Zero-Hour Contracts – The Future of Work After years of financial crisis, United Kingdom is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with an unemployment rate that dramatically dropped by 3 percent in just a couple of years. Although many credit zero-hour contracts with ending the recession, they are still one of the most controvesial topics in the UK.

“An investigation to explore how the management of zero hours contracts affects the employees of Abercrombie & Fitch – London”

Background and History of Four-day Workweek Schedule Before introducing the workplace issues related to the development of four-day workweek, a clear definition of this schedule is needed. According to Department of Labor (n.d.), “A workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour periods. The workweek does not have to coincide with the calendar week, but instead it may begin on any day of the week and at any hour of the day.” It might be the “four-day, 32-hour workweek – more leisure, less work” (Wernette 1), or the “three-day, 40 hour, compressed work week” that Vega

Zero hour contracts on the rise could be attributed to the economic downturn in recent years, as employers struggle to find ways to reduce the costs of their businesses to be able to keep them viable “greater labour market flexibility helps the economy to respond to changes in demand and output, which in turn enables wages and employment to adjust easier”, according to Jowett et al (2014)

Over the last two decades, American workers have been clocking more and more hours on the job, and they now work more hours than workers in any other industrialized country. Annual work hours are 4% higher than they were in 1980, amounting to an extra 1 hour and 30 minutes at work per week, on average (ILO 1999). Workers are also clocking more overtime hours. Almost one-third of the workforce regularly works more than the standard 40-hour week; one-fifth work more than 50 hours. The growth in overtime work, while helping to drive the healthy growth in output in the U.S., has unhealthy social costs. It is taking its toll not only on workers, but on their families, communities, and, ultimately in many cases, patients, customers, and

But what happens when companies start to come close to the 50 employee point? They will cut employees’ hours back to a part-time status to 30 hours in order to stay afloat (Stevens & Harler, 2012). On top of this, employees who

Their rights Their employers responsibilities Give examples of legislation that impact on. Employee holidays, rest periods, working hours and night working. Explain why these are important for both the employee and employer

The state of the New York doesn’t deprive the rights of the employers to give contracts which relate to the type of the business. However, it protects them since it gives them the capability to determine number of hours which is comfortable to an employee. Actually, this gives advantage to employers since it increases the chance for the employees to be productive. The Fourteen Amendment also protect the employer and should strictly be followed since it gives the right to determine number of hours but responsibly.

For instance, “creating lower minimum wages for students and new hires could preserve jobs” as “the student minimum wage would permit employers to hire season workers without bearing the full cost of adult employment” (Hicks). It is also suggested that after employed unskilled workers work for “more after 90 to 120 days of employment”, they can gain a paid more than from when they started working. This policy could spare the training of those unskilled workers by other employee. These recommendations suggest that instead lowering minimum wage for full-time and long-time employers, lowering the rate for students and new employees and sparing the employees from training unskilled workers could essentially save a company money, while establishing a fairer work environment.

While smaller businesses operating on tighter budgets may find it expensive to pay overtime, the bigger companies with few employees on the managerial positions are capable of paying for overtime for the employees whose category will fall below the minimum exempt. Furthermore, all the options available for employers to handle the proposed rule should it come into effect will still benefit the American worker. One remedy is to follow the law and raise the annual salaries of employees who are overtime-exempt which will motivate workers who are already earning a salary close to that minimum (Rossheim, 2016). The second option is to re-classify workers as no-exempt, a move that would see the workers who are earning below the proposed exempt minimum qualify for overtime pay or reduce the workload for employees so that they only work for 40 hours in a week (Rossheim, 2016). The last option would be to hire more workers and avoid paying overtime which is a good move in providing employment for the unemployed. It is evident that the options available for employers would work towards improving employees’ welfare as well as saving the organization from the challenges of low remuneration.

Unions Working is a necessity for life. Everyone has to work in some way to get money so they can live. With work being such a universal thing, there are bound to be some issues with it. Unions have come into question about whether they are necessary or

Shift Workers in Canada The scheduling of hours of work is undoubtedly one of the major social problems of industrial society. Statistic estimates that 30% of Canada's workforce are involved in some kind of shiftwork. Of those, 33% work irregular shifts, just under 30% work rotating shifts, 17% work long

Working Hours A worker’s working time, including overtime, shall not exceed an average of 48 hours for each seven days. It is currently possible for workers to sign a written agreement to opt out of the 48 hour weekly maximum. The agreement to opt out can be ended by the worker giving notice in writing. Under the Working Times Regulations 1998 the length of the notice required to opt out cannot be for a period of less than seven days or more than three months. Health and safety at work act 1974 also impacts on working time and breaks giving both parties time to recharge not being over tired. The employer has a more productive workforce if it they are not over worked.

But what are the consequences for the employees ? The new system scheduling time work is totally irregular and unpredictable which may decrease the employee’s job stability and potentially create financial hardships. The result was a computerized system that totally