Cable warns of exploitation with zero hours contracts
Business Secretary Vince Cable has ordered a review of zero hours contracts, after new research revealed the amount of people on them could be four times as high as official estimates.
Mr Cable said he believes some workers are being exploited under the terms of the contracts, which have rapidly increased over the past few years. Business Editor Laura Kuenssberg reports.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said their research showed that one in five businesses employed at least one person on such conditions.
The survey showed that firms in the voluntary and public sectors, as well as hotel, leisure and catering industries were more likely to use zero-hero contracts.
Read: Report: One million workers on zero hours contracts
Cable said the review was necessary to ensure the contracts were not exploitative. Labour dismissed the review as inadequate after discovering only three civil servants were tasked to look into the issue so far, and have called for a full consultation.
Speaking to Business Editor Laura Kuenssberg Mr Cable said that although the contracts can work for both employers and employees, the government was taking legal advice on the "exclusivity" clauses imposed by some, where a worker is not guaranteed hours, but is forbidden to work elsewhere.