'One million workers' on zero-hours contracts. Gee..thanks Obama.

[D. Weiner]

LONDON (AFP) – The number of workers on zero-hours contracts
with no guarantee of work could be one million, four times
higher than official estimates, according to new figures
revealed on Monday.

A survey of 1,000 employers showed that around one in five
employed at least one person on a zero-hours contract, the
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said.

The data suggested that between three and four percent of all
workers covered by the survey were on the contracts -- roughly
one million workers across the UK.

The findings said employers in the voluntary and public sectors
were more likely to use zero-hours contracts, along with those
in hospitality.

Under the contract, employees agree to work as and when
required. Critics say the contracts are abused and favour
employers.

But a separate survey of contract employees found only 14
percent of workers said their employers failed to offer them
sufficient work, according to the figures from CIPD's 2013
Labour Market Outlook.

The Office for National Statistics last week said 250,000 people
in the country were on zero-hours contracts at the end of last
year.

Unions believe these figures under-represent the reality and
have criticised zero-hours contracts, saying most workers have
no choice but to accept them.

"The vast majority of workers are only on these contracts
because they have no choice. They may give flexibility to a few,
but the balance of power favours the employers and makes it hard
for workers to complain," said Dave Prentis, general secretary
of the Unison union, calling for a ban on the contracts.

But CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese said the contracts could
mean flexibility for employees and called for a closer look at
them.

"The assumption that all zero-hours contracts are bad and the
suggestion from some quarters that they should be banned should
be questioned," Cheese added, while warning that employers must
not use such contracts to avoid their responsibilities.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/05/one-million-workers-on-
zero-hours-contracts/?intcmp=obnetwork