Zero-hour contract workers are “stuck” on low-pay and insecurity, a new report has claimed.
The TUC says employers are “parking workers on zero-hour contracts for years on end” as it leads calls to ban the practice.
It study, which used official data, found that two in three zero-hour workers have been with their current employer for over a year, with one in eight having been with them for over a decade.
Only 7% of zero-hour workers have been with their employer for less than three months, says the TUC.
The latest data showed there are 1.15 million people on these contracts. Black and minority ethnic women are nearly three times as likely to be on zero hours contracts as white men, said the report.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Everyone should be treated fairly at work, but too many workers – especially black and ethnic minority women – are trapped in low-paid jobs on zero hours contracts, with few rights and protections and no guarantee of shifts.
“Bad employers are parking workers on zero hours contracts for years on end.
“These precarious contracts hand almost total control over workers’ hours and earning power to managers, making it nigh on impossible to plan budgets and childcare.
“Insecure work has boomed on the Conservatives’ watch over the past 14 years, with the number of workers on zero hours contracts hitting the one million mark.
“That’s why a ban on zero hours contracts is long overdue. Working people should have a right to a contract that reflects their regular hours of work.
“It’s time for a New Deal for Working People, like Labour is proposing – which includes a ban on zero hours contracts, ensuring workers get reasonable notice of shifts and an end to fire and rehire.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “Zero-hour contracts offer flexibility for people who may need to balance work around personal commitments whilst helping employers with less demand for permanent staff.
“We continue to tackle unfair working practices through the Workers Act, giving workers the right to make a request to their employer for a more predictable working pattern, and boosting the National Living Wage for millions of workers to £11.44 an hour.”
