Zero Hour Contract Essay

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The current legal position relating for those employed under a zero hour contract has been of great debate in recent years and has recently been reformed by section 153 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. It was brought into force on 26th of May and it amends the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) by inserting a new section 27A. It bans the use of exclusivity clauses and also proves a statutory definition of a zero hour contract. The definition of zero hour contracts and the implications of the banning of exclusivity clauses will be explored in determining whether it helps establish employment status.
A zero hour contract means “a contract of employment or other worker’s contract under which the undertaking to do …show more content…

However, through the cases of Consistent Group Ltd v Kalwak [2007] and Pulse Healthcare v Carewatch Care Services Ltd (2012) , the claimants were found to be employees. The briefing the parliamentary discussions states that “the implication is that where a worker is employed on a zero hour contract and provided with regular work which is regularly accepted there exists a possibility that the contract will be one of employment”. However, it is important to note that following the case of O’Kelly, it is not always the case and other matters will have to be considered. Section 27 (3) of the ERA does recognise the need for mutuality of obligation to establish employment status as exclusivity is considered one of the many factors that a tribunal will take into account when considering mutuality. This therefore illustrates that there is an attempt to recognise the difficulties presented, in terms of being able to establish employment status but it is not able to reach the core element of the problems involved.
Certainly there is no shortage of disagreement within the fact that, this is a significant step towards tackling the perceived abuse of such contracts by employers, particularly for low-paid workers. These new provisions have also included an extension of the ban to low-income contracts and a new route for workers to bring tribunal claims if they suffer a detriment due to taking jobs under other contracts . Zero hour contracts suits many individuals, who like the flexibility to work when appropriate for them. However, there are still many downfalls to this type of

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