Oral Answers to Questions

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Hancock]

I pay tribute not only to my hon. Friend for the work he has done to bring that investment to the UK, and specifically to the Isle of Wight, but to all hon. Members who have worked to make Britain one of the best players in the world in the manufacture of renewables technology. That complements our energy policy. The tie-up between getting the industry and the energy policy right is absolutely vital, and he has played an important role in that.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

8. If he will take steps to ensure that employees working on zero-hours contracts who are in practice working regular hours over an extended period have the right to a fixed-term contract.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Jo Swinson)]

Under flexible working legislation brought in on 30 June 2014, all employees with 26 continuous weeks of service have the right to request flexible working from their employer. Employees on zero-hours contracts can request a change in their contracts, which could of course include a request to move to fixed hours.

[Lilian Greenwood]

Over Christmas, Radio Nottingham carried reports of a zero-hours worker at SportsDirect who was so worried about missing a shift that he went into work despite being critically ill. I have heard from constituents working in health and social care who dare not raise concerns about health and safety or quality of care for fear of losing all their hours. Is it not now absolutely clear that the only way to end that exploitation is to vote Labour on 7 May?

[Jo Swinson]

Unsurprisingly, I disagree with the perspective at the end of the hon. Lady’s question. I agree that there are serious issues with zero-hours contracts. Although they work well for many people, as backed up by Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development surveys, there are other examples—she highlights some from her constituency—where that type of contract is not used as it should be. That is why we are taking action through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill to ban exclusivity clauses and why we are going further, with the development of sector-specific guidance to show what the proper and responsible use of these contracts looks like.