Zero hour contracts may create work-life chaos for over a million workers
New research claims that unpredictable shifts, last-minute cancellations and fluctuating pay can create “work-life chaos” for many of the 1.24 million people employed on zero-hours contracts.
The new report from the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, commissioned by the TUC, draws on in-depth digital diaries kept by zero-hours workers across Britain. It provides a detailed picture of how insecure and unpredictable working hours affect workers’ finances, family lives and wellbeing.
Participants were carefully selected to reflect the sectoral, regional, age and gender profile of zero-hours workers nationally.
Analysis by the Work Foundation of ONS data indicates that a record number of workers depend on their zero-hour contract for full-time work (32.8 per cent) and are not in full-time education (77 per cent). All of workers who participated in this study were aged 25+, the age cohort which comprises more than 60 per cent of zero-hour contract workers.
Researchers conducted in depth qualitative analysis with nine workers from up and down Britain who rely on zero-hour contracts as their main source of income. The group of participants comprised of five workers in hospitality, two workers in health and social care, one worker in arts and entertainment and one worker in education.
The report also shows that as well as harming some workers – zero-hour contracts allow managers to engage in unprofessional practices and act poorly towards their staff.
Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University said: “The experiences of zero-hour contract workers underline how one sided the flexibility that they offer can be. By their very nature, they bake uncertainty and precarity into the working lives of those who rely on them, which has significant consequences for their financial and mental wellbeing.
"In particular, this new evidence shows how zero-hour contracts leave workers highly vulnerable to late changes and cancellations of their shifts. This can make it extremely difficult to plan for day-to-day expenses like childcare, and for long-term financial commitments like renting or buying a home.
“Government must now deliver on its commitment to end exploitative zero-hour contracts by giving workers at least 28 days’ notice of shifts, ensuring full pay for late cancellations, and putting strong enforcement behind the new reforms.”
The Employment Rights Act 2025 will introduce new rights to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts and payment when shifts are cancelled or curtailed at short notice. However, Ministers still face critical decisions about how these protections will work when they come into force in 2027.
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