Friday 17 April 2015

Zero Compassion For Zero Hours From Tories

Zero hour contracts have been quite rightly attacked in the election campaign with all parties attacking the practise that sees an employee receiving a text message the night before to tell them whether they have any work in the morning.
On last nights debate, Labour's Ed Miliband pledged to ban 'exploitative zero-hours contracts' and 'make sure people are given more secure contracts if they are working for an employer for three months'.
Much has been made that the number of zero-hours contracts has tripled since 2010 and as many as 2.3% of the population in employment are now subject to these contracts.
The Conservatives have received much of the flak for not cracking down on the employers but Ian Duncan Smith, the Conservative work and pensions secretary, is now on the case and he has a solution, change the name.
'Zero-hours contracts should be rebranded as flexible-hours contracts' was his suggestion before going on to explain that far from seeking to end the contracts that do not guarantee any hours of employment, 'people who do them are more satisfied with their work-life balance than those who are on fixed-hours contracts'.
Next week, IDS explains how Primark was not creating sweat shops in Asia but were merely creating the opportunity for 8-year-old Vietnamese children the opportunity to learn a new skill.

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