ZERO WORKING HOURS CONTRACTS

Abstract

Work flexibility has led to the creation of atypical forms of work engagement. On the plus side, those who engage in such contracts can more easily integrate their professional and private responsibilities, often even limiting their working hours to the number of hours they need to earn enough for the standard of living they practice. However, such forms of work engagement carry significant risks for workers and, in many situations, lead to workers being precarised, especially when applied to those activities that are considered traditional - such as healthcare, education, transport of goods and people - in which they are mostly engaged persons who cannot otherwise secure a job for themselves. One typical example of such a development of employment contracts is a zero-hour contract, which does not specify the duration of weekly working hours or the earnings of a person, which depends on whether and how much he or she will engage with the employer with whom he or she has concluded this type of contract. The abuses of such a regime are significant and increasingly visible as their popularity grows, and in this context, research addresses the ways of regulating them more precisely, as well as perceives trends related to the new EU regulations. Conclusions are aimed primarily at how to delegalise this type of contract, or at least marginalize it with restrictions that would prevent employers from abusing them as a way of reaching an unsecured and underpaid workforce.