Zero hours contract or bank staff contract

Welcome Ana
I would advise you to think very carefully before instituting such contracts. Apart from the legal issues involved it may damage your credibility as a charity

Welcome Ana
I would advise you to think very carefully before instituting such contracts. Apart from the legal issues involved it may damage your credibility as a charity

Thanks Peter, I appreciate your advice. Currently the charity is looking at different options to redesig some of their contracts to be aligned with the GDPR changes that are coming in.
With all due respect, used correctly zero hours contracts might be beneficial for both employees and employers, offering both the freedom of choosing when and how much to work to suit individual circumstances.

Hi Peter

I think the problem is that the term “zero hour contract” has become toxic. It is possible to operate these ethically, and building up a bank of people who can be offered work as and when a need occurs can be perfectly ethical. The first requirement is for complete transparency from the start so that the applicants know what is on offer. Then, once you have your bank, you need to run it ethically. This includes people being free not to take work when it isn’t convenient without there being any penalty.

One of the organisations I support is a social enterprise which offers zero hours contracts for cover staff. It’s ideal for students or people with caring responsibilities. We have people on these contracts who have repeatedly turned down offers of regular hours. If someone hasn’t done any work for a few months we would write to them and ask if they still want to be contacted. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, but it is up to them.

However, I do agree that there could be an effect on reputation if the charity doesn’t think through very carefully how they will offer and manage these contracts. I would rather offer a zero hours contract transparently than a contract with extremely low regular hours that will be operated like a zero hours contract and would feel more confident dealing with any external interest about the former than the latter.

Hi Ana

This is the best guidance I have come across
www.eversheds-sutherland.com/.../index.page

Thanks Elizabeth, for your comment and confirming my beliefs, that by offering this type of contracts (as long as it’s transparent and clear of the pros and cons) can be beneficial for both parties, but again regularly reviewed to ensure it still meets its initial purpose: flexibility to accept or decline work on an adhoc basis.

Thanks David, I’ll review the guidelines and see how these can fit into our strategy.

Great post, Elizabeth Divver :)