{"id":5321,"date":"2015-08-20T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T07:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5321"},"modified":"2015-08-19T17:52:29","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T16:52:29","slug":"one-in-four-offered-insecure-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5321","title":{"rendered":"One in four offered insecure work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the government attempts to downplay just how pervasive zero-hours contracts (ZHCs) have become, a new report released today (August 20) has revealed that one in four unemployed adults have been offered these insecure contracts, which guarantee no minimum hours of work.<\/p>\n

 
\nContradicting government claims that people enjoy the so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u015bflexibility\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 of zero-hours contracts, the survey, conducted by online jobs and recruitment marketplace Glassdoor, found extreme reluctance and distrust of ZHCs, with almost half of people surveyed turning down these contracts after being offered them.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe primary reasons for turning down these contracts included the need to have a guaranteed level of income in order to stop receiving benefits and lack of trust towards employers offering ZHCs.<\/p>\n

 
\nAlmost 40 per cent of respondents believed that zero-hours contracts should be banned entirely, with 45 per cent saying they thought that the contracts were exploitative.<\/p>\n

 
\nReasons respondents gave for accepting zero-hours contracts shows top what extent ZHCs are the preserve of desperation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c almost 70 per cent said they took on the contract because they needed the money, with 37 per cent saying they felt they had no choice.<\/p>\n

 
\nAlso refuting the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s claim that the dramatic rise in zero-hours contracts can simply be attributed to more people being aware of what a zero-hours contract was, the survey found substantial lack of awareness.<\/p>\n

 
\nA full one in five of those surveyed had no idea what a zero-hours contract was, with this figure rising outside of areas in London. For example, in the Midlands, lack of awareness rose to almost 30 per cent.
\nUnite assistant general secretary Steve Turner condemned the proliferation of zero-hours contracts that have now become the norm in an economy dominated by low pay and insecurity.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bExploitative zero hours contracts have become the employment model of choice for bosses such as Sports Direct which have 75 per cent of its workforce on these contracts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese wretched contracts are heavily weighted in favour of the bosses \u00e2\u20ac\u201c no one can exist on or plan for the future when they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know when, and for long they might be working, from one week to the next. They are grinding down people into economic servitude.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople are being forced to take jobs that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t offer permanent employment as they fear that Job Centres will strip them of their benefits if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t accept these miserable contracts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner went on to say.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese contracts have exploded since theTories came to power in 2010. People need secure and decent jobs, so they can feed their families and have a reasonable standard of living,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTrade unions can help achieve decent work for all, improving the working lives of millions of people.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Tories should stop attacking unions and instead they should be outlawing these contracts.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the government attempts to downplay just how pervasive zero-hours contracts (ZHCs) have become, a new report released today (August 20) has revealed that one in four unemployed adults have been offered these insecure contracts, which guarantee no minimum hours of work.   Contradicting government claims that people enjoy the so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u015bflexibility\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 of zero-hours contracts, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[340],"wps_subtitle":"Zero hours not as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098flexible\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as govt paints ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5323,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5321\/revisions\/5323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}