What issue, zero contract hours have been around years, they just now have this pithy little name. 20 years ago I worked part time in a pub, I can still remember the phone calls asking me to come in with barely any notice or telling me not to bother as there was no-one in the bar. Then again I may have been the only person in the country to have this arrangement.

It's heartbreaking that the bloke from Cineworld has "real difficulties" with this kind of job, yet he's made it last for 4 years. Hmmm.

Personally, I'm slightly more concerned by companies like Apple who use companies that employ children in the Far East to build their computers so people in the West are now able, through blogs/Twitter/etc, to get all morally indignant about the plight of workers in their own countries.

In general they should at least have to pay NMW for all of the hours worked, the employee should be kept on the unemployed register and have their JSA deducted from their wage during the period of employment, this would ensure that when the trial comes to an end they don't have to go back and reregister and wait another four weeks to get their JSA - its similar in a way to the old administration of statutory sick pay where the employer paid it out and then deducted it from their monthly HMRC income tax payment.

Thats all the encouragement that the unemployed should need, to encourage the employer you could provide tax deductions from corporation tax in the same way as governments in the past have made allowances for capital investments.





I've never been unemployed in 40 years but my wife has and I have seen in side a job centre from both sides of the desk as they used to be clients of mine - I would hate to be reliant on the service to provide me with guidance to get back into the workforce and indeed probably wouldn't go down that route at all, its a horrible experience, often unhelpful, often overly bureaucratic and the realisation that no-one can support a family and a lifestyle on JSA should be obvious to all but often never is.

The frustration is that many see the unemployed being able to afford things that those that work cannot - I see in my own in-laws they don't work but are currently out in Turkey enjoying the sun for the second time this year - something that many employed people cannot afford. Whenever they turn up for a family bash they are wearing expensive designer fashion - this is what I mean by the frustration the working population have with 'some' of the unemployed.

You whinge on and on yet you are complicit, I suppose if you are going to have standard best make them double...

Let's do this again, then. When did you report them to the relevant authorities for having all these things, presumably in some dodgy manner, as you have previous suggested?

You didn't?

Then you're as much as fault as you claim they are. In addition, though, you're a hypocrite.

See Big Graeme's point. If you're genuinely interested.