[Nedusa]

I am not a great fan of these "zero hours contracts" in principle they appear to offer more flexibility to people who cannot or do not wish to be tied down to regular formal hours. They would be more suited to younger people who are able to work in irregular shift patterns.

However in practice they are abused by employers to plug gaps in the working week when trade is busy. Typically employers will bring in staff to work only during really busy periods and when the workload drops off they are sent home. so in effect young workers are told to come into work only when it is really busy , they are worked to the bone and then sent home until the next busy period arises.

How can this be fair to be basically exploited for minimum wage worked to death when at work and only asked to come into work during really busy periods.

also under the terms of these contracts you are not allowed to work for anyone else, so you cannot earn extra money elsewhere.

I would prefer to see these contracts amended so that they provide a guaranteed minimum number of hours in any given period ie weekly or monthly.

currently these types of Contracts are only one step up from slave labour.