Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that people employed on zero-hours contracts are able to take advantage of employment rights which are gained after a period of qualifying service.
An individual’s eligibility for statutory employment protections in the UK is determined by their employment status and not the type of work they do, or label given to the arrangement. Individuals who are on a zero hours contract, part-time contract, or any other type of flexible arrangement can still be eligible for the same statutory employment rights as any permanent, full-time individual if they are doing the same work.
The latest figures show that the proportion of people on zero hours contracts remains small (2.6 per cent of the labour force). The number of people reporting being employed on a zero hours contract is 57,000 fewer than for a year earlier.