Zero-hours contracts: have the numbers doubled?

Zero-hours contracts (where neither employer nor employee are obliged to offer or work any minimum number of hours) were back in the news again today amid claims that the Royal Bank of Scotland is helping businesses draw up the contentious form of employment contract.

The Independent stated that:

"last month it emerged that 583,000 people, more than double the Government's official estimate, were forced to sign up to the conditions last year".

Recent estimates released for 2013 do show the number has doubled since 2012.

But, as we've explained in a previous article, estimates of the number of people working under the contracts relies on people being able to correctly identify their contractual arrangements.

The Office of National Statistics has warned that:

"increased awareness of [zero-hours contracts] among employees may have affected how people respond following increased media coverage in the latter half of 2013."

While the Government had previously cited a figure of 250,000 for October to December 2012 before these statistics were released (the 'official estimate' to which we think the article refers), they too have warned of the unreliability of the figures.

The ONS hopes to release new data next month, this time based on information given by employers. It is hoped this will provide a more accurate picture.