Zero Hour contracts, how it works for us

There's a lot floating around the news at the moment about zero-hour contracts and potential changes heading our way. I thought it would be good for me to share here my views on this - mainstream media often pushes a narrative and it's sometimes nice to see how things work in practice from others. 

What is a zero-hour contract?

A zero-hour contract is basically a flexible agreement with no guaranteed number of hours for the employee. 

Many people read this and think "well that isn't good for the employee, they'll miss out" and whilst some business owners and employers do take advantage, they can actually be a huge benefit to employees too.

I instil a zero-hour contracts in our business. Whilst there are a couple of cons with doing this, for us the pros well outweigh them. And by "for us" I don't mean the business, but the people we employee. The cons are actually affecting the business as opposed to our staff, which is not the narrative you'll see pushed in the media. 

Yes, don't get me wrong, we absolutely do benefit from them too, but we are very much a team at Sarah's Creative Chocolate Kitchen, and the main thought process with these contracts was family. 

Zero-hour and family time 

Twelve weeks off for every member of staff every single year is almost unheard of in this country. That level of flexibility and family time just doesn't happen... but, it does with us. Most of our staff were employed on set hour contracts which were changed, with agreement, later on. Now, we didn't do this to take advantage or to con anyone, we did it to offer more flexibility. Where we had people in for 16 hours a week every week before, regardless of how busy we were or what was happening, we now have people in 30 hours some weeks, 8 the next or 0 in others, we can account for time in a more business-oriented way, saving money, being in when we are busy and off when we are not, and this means our staff still get the same yearly hours but benefit from a full 12 weeks of leave. 

Our work is quite seasonal so we know when to expect peak making times now and this is when we will choose to take the leave, close the shop and spend time with loved ones. 

Another huge positive to zero-hour contracts for staff is that they have ultimate control over saying yes or no; they can take leave whenever for however long they want and it isn't really a request I can reject. However, because out policy allows for so much downtime anyway people rarely ask for more time off outside of those 12 weeks. 

From a business stand point it obviously is a benefit to us that we can close if needed, in case of an emergency or something, without much notice. Again, this hasn't ever happened it's just a possibility. 

I think zero-hour contracts offer a fantastic option for people who want flexibility, perhaps parents who need to be free for certain days or for school runs etc. 

So what are the cons? 

This way of working can sometimes prove unsustainable. We are not guaranteed the staff because the contract doesn't promise hours, therefore, they're not obliged to show for some. When this happens and we don't have the minimum number required to complete the days tasks then we can't open the shop, meaning we do lose income. This year has been more notable for this with everyone having different days off and different things planned, so you've probably noticed we've been open a lot less compared to last year. 

That's the reality of business though truthfully. Sometimes you make money, sometimes you don't. I have quite enjoyed the extra time of myself anyway so whilst not great for the business as a whole, for me personally it hasn't been much of an issue. 

I know other employers can take advantage of people using this form of contract as well, taking enough people on to never be without staff, but not having enough work for all the people they've employed. It's a given that some people do this, unfortunately, and definitely not something I agree with. For that reason I can understand why they'd look at scrapping zero-hour contracts, but I'm thinking introducing stricter regulations and governing of them would make more sense. 

Not only for business owners and employers, but for employees too. 

There are many people who wouldn't be able to be in work at all without the option and that's where the focus should be really. What are your thoughts?