Zero Hours Contract Employment
Source: data.gov.uk (2022-05-19)

Estimates and Analysis of Zero Hours Employment contracts and number of employees hired on this contract type

ZERO HOURS CONTRACTS: SUPPLEMENTARY ANALYSIS NOTE 
 
To publicise supplementary analysis produced by BIS analysts to complement the 
information published by ONS at 9.30 a.m. on 30th April 2014. 
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced that it will publish its first 
estimate of the total number of employee contracts that do not guarantee a minimum 
number of hours in use by UK employers on Wednesday 30 April at 9.30 a.m.  
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lmac/contracts-with-no-guaranteed-hours/zero-hours-
contracts/art-zero-hours.html 
The Government issued a consultation on zero hours contracts in December 2013 
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/zero-hours-employment-contracts  
in which the Government set out its ambition to ‘maximise the opportunities of zero 
hours contracts while minimising abuse and setting core standards that protect 
individuals.’ The consultation document sets out the issues we have identified so far, 
seeks further evidence and invites views on a range of potential actions Government 
and employers can take. 
The ONS publication provides important additional information on contracts without a 
guaranteed minimum number of hours derived from a business survey and this will 
feed into the response to the Government consultation when it published in due 
course. In addition, analysts within BIS have been examining the LFS primarily but 
also other sources in order to provide supplementary information on zero hours and 
other variable contracts. This information will also be incorporated into the response 
to the Government consultation. 
Summaries of this supplementary analysis has already been presented in public and 
these summaries are set out here in order that it can be accessed easily and 
considered alongside the information produced by the ONS. 
There are two presentations which were both presented by Bill Wells Deputy Director 
of the Labour Market Analysis branch in the Labour Market directorate within BIS. 
They were: 
 ‘USING THE LFS MAN AND BOY: From Activation to Zero Hours 
Contracts. There is more to life than the LFS.’ A summary of the use of the 
Labour Force Survey in labour market policy development. Presented at the 
ONS Conference ‘The Labour Force Survey: past present and future’ on 28th 
November 2014. http://ukdataservice.ac.uk/media/351616/wells.pdf  
 ‘Trends in part-time working and short-term employment contracts and 
the impacts on benefit claims.’ Includes a background presentation and a 
summary. Presented at a labour market seminar convened by the DWP Select 
Committee on 26th February 2014. www.gov.uk/government/publications/zero-
hours-contracts-supplementary-analysis

Summary of the information on zero hours contracts in the 
presentations 
 
The information below summarises the evidence on zero hours contracts in the 
two presentations. It does not consider the other evidence on the UK that is also 
set out in the presentation.  
The UK’s labour market system of benefits, employment regulation and National 
Minimum Wage are all structured around providing universal basic minimum 
standards.  
The UK’s ‘light and even’ employment regulation system sets universal basic 
minimum standards aimed at preventing exploitation whilst allowing workers and 
employers the freedom to set the terms & conditions that suit them both. This 
delivers a system which is both dynamic – there is a lot of voluntary turnover – 
and diverse – there are a very wide range of types and patterns of employment. 
This labour market system combined with a long standing tradition of allowing 
workers and employers to determine their own terms & conditions is currently 
delivering a system overall where the vast majority of people are better off in 
work than on benefits; employment overall and for all age groups is high by 
international standards; and the employment record during and since the 
recession has been good. Also, the level of satisfaction with all forms and types 
of work in the UK tends to be higher than in most other countries. 
However, there is public and Parliamentary concern over whether there is abuse 
and exploitation of workers in a particular type of contract – zero hours contracts. 
Given that the focus of the analysis is exploitation of workers and abuse the most 
appropriate official statistic is the LFS because it reflects the views and concerns 
of the individual. 
As it is very rare for workers on zero hours contracts to usually work zero hours 
each week the problem is not in the precise nature of the contract itself but rather 
the variability of hours and pay from week to week. Also, as zero hours contracts 
are such a small proportion of total employment the number of workers who 
actually work zero hours or a small number of hours a week are much more 
prevalent amongst people who are not on zero hours contracts than are on such 
contracts. 
People who are on zero hours contracts are less likely to actually work the same 
as their usual hours. They were more likely than those not on zero hours 
contracts to work more than their usual hours. However, they were also more 
likely to work less than their usual hours. People on zero hours contracts were 
more likely to actually work either zero hours or less than 15 hours per week.    
Zero hours contracts and other forms of variable hours contracts are more likely 
to provide employment opportunities to workers who are probably not on benefits 
– students and 3rd or 4th earners in a household. However, there are also likely to 
be more problems with zero hours and other variable hours contracts. More of 
those on these forms of contract would prefer to work longer and more are 
actively looking for different or additional work. But not many more of them 

actually have a second job. We do not from the LFS, however, know whether 
their inability to get extra work was due to restrictions associated with exclusivity 
contracts. The Government consultation will provide more direct information on 
this.