Why worry about zero hours contracts?

Our Director, Victoria Winckler, considers the impact of zero hours contracts on Welsh workers.

The Bevan Foundation contributes a monthly column to Wales’ leading, independent business news website, Business News Wales. The website has more than 250,000 monthly visitors across all sectors of the Welsh economy, enabling the Bevan Foundation to reach deep into the business community.

This month, Victoria Winckler provides insights around zero hours contracts and how they affect employees in Wales.

New figures show that around one in 30 workers in Wales has a contract of employment with no guaranteed hours of work, approximately 43,000 people. Although these working patterns offer some advantages to employers and workers, there are also many downsides, including uncertainty and insecurity for employees.

With new legislation on the way, allowing workers to request a predictable work pattern, Victoria highlights that much more needs to be done to strike a better balance between economic flexibility for the employer and economic security for the worker.

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