Usdaw's consultation response includes:
- The right to guaranteed hours contract to apply to all workers with a contract of up to 48 hours, to provide secure incomes, calculated over a 12-week reference period.
- A legal right to fair notice of shifts of at least 4 weeks, so that everyone can plan their lives around work.
- Workers to receive compensation if shifts are cancelled with less than 7 days' notice, equivalent of the workers' actual wage.
- No additional requirements for 'regularity' of hours for workers to qualify for the right.
Full response: https://www.usdaw.org.uk/GHresponse
Joanne Thomas - Usdaw general secretary says: "The right to a contract that guarantees the hours you normally work is a matter of basic fairness and security. It must be applied to everyone to deliver the Government's manifesto commitment. Many of our members are regularly working hours that aren't guaranteed in their contract, which has a massive impact on their lives.
"It has the potential to provide much greater security for millions of low-paid workers and must apply to everyone up to and including full-time workers. Labour rightly made that a manifesto commitment. We absolutely cannot have loopholes that make this meaningless.
"We need an economy with better jobs and higher living standards, where more people have money to spend, giving a much-needed boost to our high streets. Good employers have nothing to fear from these rights, which will help to prevent them from being undercut by employers who exploit workers on insecure contracts.
"A legal right to a guaranteed hours contract will simply require employers to properly plan staffing and shifts in advance. Workers who want a zero-hours or flexible contract will still be able to. They will just have a right to more secure hours if they want them.
"We don't accept the scaremongering from those who wrongly claim that decent employment rights will cost jobs. We heard similar arguments when the minimum wage was introduced. They were wrong then and they're wrong now".
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest with around 370,000 members.
Most Usdaw member work in the retail sector, but the union also represents many workers in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Make Work Pay: ending one-sided flexibility - reforms of zero-hours and similar contracts consultation: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/make-work-pay-ending-one-sided-flexibility-reforms-of-zero-hours-and-similar-contracts
Labour’s 2024 manifesto commitment: “Labour will end one-sided flexibility and ensure all jobs provide a baseline level of security and predictability, banning exploitative zero-hours contracts and ensuring everyone has the right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work, based on a twelve-week reference period.”
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion