These are contracts between an employer and an employee for jobs that are described as ‘casual’ (rather than permanent) in that there are usually no fixed hours and pay is dependent on the number of hours worked. Many such contracts have no guarantee regarding the minimum number of hours to be worked, and employees often do not know until the day before whether or not they will be needed. Most zero-hours workers are on the minimum wage, and sick pay is not usually included, though entitlement to some holiday pay should be. Some contracts require workers to take whatever shifts are offered.
Recent figures suggest that over 744,000 workers in the UK are on these contracts, a rise of 19% over the year to September 2015. The majority of such workers are women, those in full-time education, the under 25s and the over 65s. They are less likely than other workers to receive any training.
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