The rise of the zero-hours contract

On Friday, ministers from across the political spectrum in New Zealand voted to ban the use of zero-hours contracts. Employees working under such an arrangement have no guaranteed minimum number of working hours. While they are also not obliged to accept any work offered to them, this flexible yet highly unreliable form of employment is much criticised and described by some as exploitative. Despite this, in the UK from 2000 to 2015 there was a net increase in employees working on a zero-hours contract of 576 thousand. The 801 thousand employees in 2015 represented 2.5 percent of the entire workforce in the United Kingdom.

The industries using zero-hours contracts to the greatest extent were accommodation and food (189 thousand) and health and social work (179 thousand). The landmark decision made in New Zealand is being hailed by many, including the UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn who wrote on Twitter:

"Zero-hour contracts have been banned in New Zealand - look what's possible when you put your mind to it "

Whether the ban will lead to a wave of politicians really putting their minds to the further abolition of the practice remains as yet to be seen. This infographic featured recently in The Week.