Record numbers on 'zero hours'

David Collingwood, of The Co-operative Funeralcare told ITV News around 20 percent of the company's employees work on 'zero-hour' contracts. He says the contracts suit both the employees and the needs of the business.

Read: 'Zero hours' contracts explained

Kevin Green, of the Employment and Recruitment Confederation, says there is a positive side to 'zero hour' contracts.

He told ITV News: "Zero hours isn't all about the downside, actually, what you could be saying is this is keeping 200,000 people in work , who may not have been in work if it wasn't for these types of contracts."

Read Laura Kuenssberg's blog 'When is a job not a job?' here

Speaking to Business Editor Laura Kuenssberg, one employee currently on a 'Zero hours' contract told her that in one month she has had 15 shifts, in others she has had one and at times she has been sent home because there isn't a position available.

She said: "Sometimes they will ask you to wait around for an hour to see if there are any positions available and if there's not, you go home and that is a day's wage lost."

She added that if she could get another job she would leave the 'zero hours' contract in exchange for more stability.

Read Laura's blog 'When is a job not a job?' here

Read: Well known companies who use 'zero hours' contracts

ITV News has revealed a record number of workers are in jobs which have no guarantee of regular hours, regular pay, or any job security.

So-called "zero hours" contracts take people off the unemployment register, but they allow businesses, many of them big names, to summon or send home staff, often those in the lowest paid jobs, without warning.

Read: Well known companies who use 'zero hours' contracts

ITV News Business Editor, Laura Kuenssberg, has our exclusive report.

Read Laura's blog 'When is a job not a job?' here

At the end of last year, ONS figures listed 200,000 people on "zero hours" contracts. These figures show how the use of such employment contracts has more than doubled in the last decade.

The Co-op employs around a fifth of its funeral staff with "zero hours" contracts, the House of Lords uses the contracts as do Boots, Bupa, Cineworld, Centerparcs, and the NHS including contracts for ambulance crew, nursery schools, driving jobs, and many others.

Read more: "Zero hours" contracts explained

According to the Government's guidance to employers, "zero hour contracts" are usually for "piece work" or "on call" work.

This means:

• They are on call to work when needed by bosses
• Employers do not have to give them work
• They do not have to take on the work if asked

According to Business Editor Laura Kuenssberg, "under the contracts, employers are legally allowed to employ staff, often in the lowest paid jobs, without any promise of actual work, or income, literally calling them up and summoning them to work or sending them home from one day to the next."

"Workers are often trapped in jobs with no security, no regular income, feeling like they have no choice but to be legally, at the beck and call of their employer.

"But for many workers, a "zero hours" contract can work extremely well, giving flexibility, and in some cases, relatively high pay."

• Read more: When is a job not a job? The rise of 'zero hours' contracts