Member

There is a clear solution here. As currently written, the Bill offers some scope for exemptions to the duty to offer guaranteed hours, such as in seasonal work. However, I plead that that is, certainly at the moment, a vague provision, and we need explicit regulation to define full-time students as a category of workers who are exempt from this duty. The regulation could specify that students on zero-hours or low-hours contracts are excluded from the obligation to be offered guaranteed hours, thus ensuring that universities, student unions and seasonal employers are not burdened by requirements that simply do not fit into the nature of student employment. This would ensure that employers can continue to offer flexible work to students without the threat of penalties or unnecessary costs, and it would also allow students to continue working in a manner that fits their academic schedules and personal needs, rather than forcing them into fixed hours that they cannot meet. I beg to move.