Friday, July 25, 2014

Zero Hours

Thousands of working Scots are on the edge of poverty because of the abuse of zero-hours contracts by some employers, according to Citizens Advice Scotland. The employment agreements enable businesses to vary the amount of hours a person works, week by week, and the system is meant to allow flexibility for both employers and workers.

Citizens Advice Scotland discovered some workers have gone for long periods with only a few hours in their jobs, or none at all, and therefore little or no pay. In a few cases bosses had drastically cut an employee's hours in what seemed like an effort to force them to resign. Citizens Advice Scotland also found some employers don't tell their staff the job is a zero-hours contract when they are taken on.

According to the Office for National Statistics, there were more than 1.4 million zero-hour contracts across the UK in late 2013.

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