Why? It gave me what little money I needed to have some sort of life while at college. The terms meant I was at their beck and call. The very definition of a "zero hour contract".
Of the 250,000 people trapped in the life threatening cycle, that offers them no hope, how many are just after a bit of spare cash? how many are using it as their main source of income? how many are actually that ed off with it? how many are perfectly happy with the arrangement? how many actually go that extra yard to get the hours on the rota? if this awful way of working was suddenly abolished, of the 250,000, how many would be offered full time work?
Still, lets just stick with "zero hour contracts, they're just so unfair...waaaahhhhh"

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.