A recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey of 5,000 businesses indicates that in January to February 2014 there were around 1.4 million employee contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours of work. The ONS has concluded contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours is a more “useful definition” of such arrangements rather than using the term “zero-hours contracts”.  ONS will undertake further research in this area and report later in 2014. Looking at the types of people employed on “zero-hours contracts”, the Labour Force Survey shows that they are more likely to be women, in full-time education or in young (16-24) or older (65 and over) age groups, perhaps reflecting a tendency to combine flexible working with education or working beyond state retirement age. On average, someone on a “zero-hours contract” usually works 25 hours a week compared with 37 hours a week for people not employed on “zero-hours contracts”.

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