Zero Hours Contracts — Written Question

Question

Ian Lavery

Labour — Blyth and Ashington

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Office for National Statistics report entitled EMP17: People in employment on zero hours contracts, published in May 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of data on the number of people on a zero hours contract.

Answer

Kevin Hollinrake

Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, they are useful where there is not a constant demand for staff, allowing flexibility for both employers and individuals – like carers, people studying, or retirees. For this small group, a zero hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them.

Research from CIPD found that 62% of zero hours contract workers are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, which is similar to the proportion of employees as a whole (66%) (2022).