30,000 NHS workers trapped on zero-hour contracts

Following a review of job adverts, the GMB trade union has revealed that more than 30,000 NHS workers are trapped on controversial zero-hour contracts.

The union claims that the true number is likely to be even higher because statistics do not include outsourced workers, but, nonetheless says that the number of staff on the controversial contracts, which don’t guarantee a minimum number of hours, had quadrupled since 2013.  

Critics have long argued that zero-hour contracts are used by employers to undercut wages and avoid holiday pay and pension contributions, as they do not guarantee a minimum number of hours, unlike part-time or full-time contracts. The median hourly rate for a zero-hours worker is £7.25, while for all employees it is £11.05.

In September 2017, the Office for National Statistics estimated that there are over 900,000 workers on zero-hours contracts, representing three per cent of the entire UK workforce. The Labour Party has previously stated that it could end zero hours contracts by requiring employers to give all workers a contract that accurately reflects their fixed and regular hours.

Rehana Azam, GMB national officer, said: “The NHS is under enormous pressure and cuts and privatisation are linked to a rise in so-called gig economy working. If you are employed on a zero hours contract then you are denied financial security and the right to predict your hours, and they can make it impossible to access mortgages.

“A pressured, demoralised and casualised workforce will end up impacting on patient care. Zero hours contracts have no place in the NHS or elsewhere, and these figures may represent the tip of the iceberg. We need a new system that preserves some degree of flexibility while ending contracts that do not.”