ONS calls for caution on zero-hours contract figures
11 March 2014
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has advised caution over its recent figures, which show the number of workers on controversial zero-hours contracts have trebled since 2010.
Tue, 11 Mar 2014The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has advised caution over its recent figures, which show the number of workers on controversial zero-hours contracts have trebled since 2010.
The newly revised estimate, based on the ONS’s Labour Force Survey, revealed that almost 583,000 people are currently employed on zero-hour contracts – representing a huge jump on 183,000 in 2010.
These figures mean there is more than double the amount of employees in Britain on the contracts than what the government has recently claimed.
But the ONS said in a statement that it urged people to treat the latest estimate with due caution, pending the forthcoming publication next month of "more reliable" figures.
Ian Brinkley, chief economist at The Work Foundation, says: “The new figures for 2013 get us much closer to the actual level of zero-hours contracts in the labour market.
“But we should be cautious about taking the huge leap in numbers at face value. It is very unusual to see such a big increase in such a short period of time in the labour market statistics.”
The spread of zero-hour contracts have attracted controversy as staff agree to work as and when required, with no guaranteed hours or benefits, effectively giving bosses a pool of people who are "on-call" and usable when the need arises.
However, as Recruiter reported in November, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) revealed that employees on zero-hours contracts were equally satisfied with their jobs as other employees.
The newly revised estimate, based on the ONS’s Labour Force Survey, revealed that almost 583,000 people are currently employed on zero-hour contracts – representing a huge jump on 183,000 in 2010.
These figures mean there is more than double the amount of employees in Britain on the contracts than what the government has recently claimed.
But the ONS said in a statement that it urged people to treat the latest estimate with due caution, pending the forthcoming publication next month of "more reliable" figures.
Ian Brinkley, chief economist at The Work Foundation, says: “The new figures for 2013 get us much closer to the actual level of zero-hours contracts in the labour market.
“But we should be cautious about taking the huge leap in numbers at face value. It is very unusual to see such a big increase in such a short period of time in the labour market statistics.”
The spread of zero-hour contracts have attracted controversy as staff agree to work as and when required, with no guaranteed hours or benefits, effectively giving bosses a pool of people who are "on-call" and usable when the need arises.
However, as Recruiter reported in November, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) revealed that employees on zero-hours contracts were equally satisfied with their jobs as other employees.
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