flexible hours?

Jayd33

'flexible hours' seems like it could be disastrous when you have bills to pay and ive seen a few advertised so far.
i had the impression in a typical business everyones employment contract would set the minimum number of hours you'd work each week, but i could understand that more staff would be required at busier times of the year so it seems unfair that the employer would have to let you work even when there's no work to be done at the quieter times.
could someone explain this?

is that they can update your contract?

marizpan

Do you mean zero hour contracts or flexible hours?

Many places practice flexible hours. Which means that you have to do the stated number of hours on your contract but start and finish time are flexible.
For example a start time between 8-10am and finish time between 4-6pm.

This approach is very popular in office jobs and is considered a perk.

Mrs OBumble

There are also "fixed hour" contracts which require you to be flexible.

IE your contract says that you get N hours per week, but that the exact hours which you work is flexible. The best ones let you specific availability (you can say what days/hours you can or cannot work, they promise to allocate you hours within what you can do). Others require you to be fully-flexible, ie let them roster you at any time in the week.

Zero hour contracts, in which you are not guaranteed any hours at all, are the most extreme form of fixed-hour contracts.

If used properly, these contracts don't have to be disastrous. Some people (eg students) are extremely happy to have very few hours at some times of year, and work every hour that God made at other times. Some people don't want to work full time because they have other commitments, or are working on another project and using the job just to make a minimal contribution to the overall household income. Some just hate paying tax so try not to earn more than 15k/year. Etc.

Where they can be disastrous is where they're used long term by employees who really want full-time work. Some people get one and don't bother looking for full-time hours elsewhere: they fall into expecting that they'll always get full-time hours because they're getting them now - and then get upset when this is changed.

Moral of the story: if you have a flexible hours contract and want either more hours or fixed hours, then you need to find another job. Not every job is going to suit every person's lifestyle.

NB some people think that these provisions only apply to low-paid retail job. Not at all true. They can apply in many different industries, eg nursing, bus driving, etc.

Jayd33

yes I thats it, I was confusing zero hours and flexible hours, thanks for clarifying