Campaign on precarious work


A new campaign to tackle widespread insecurity over hours and provide workers with some control over their lives has been launched by the Living Wage Foundation.


Organisations signing up to the foundation’s Living Hours campaign will be required to pay the real Living Wage and commit to provide workers with at least four weeks’ notice of shifts, a contract that accurately reflects hours worked, and a contract with a guaranteed minimum of 16 hours a week. 


Organisations that agree to these measures will be accredited as Living Hours employers alongside their Living Wage accreditation.


The campaign is a natural progression from the foundation’s real Living Wage initiative. Accredited employers currently pay £9 an hour or £10.55 in London. 


BECTU, the media section of the professionals’ union Prospect, has urged employers in the creative industries and broadcasters to adopt the Living Hours programme with contractors.


Head of BECTU Philippa Childs said: “Freelancers in our industries have increasingly complex relationships with engagers and as this initiative develops we’d be keen to ensure further policies that fit their short term work patterns.”


The campaign was launched on the back of new research commissioned by the Foundation that revealed that one in six, or around five million workers, are in low paid, insecure forms of work, including short-term contracts, and contracts with unpredictable pay and hours. 


Over a fifth (22%) of workers aged 16-24 are in low paid, insecure work.

https://www.livingwage.org.uk/sites/default/files/Living%20Hours%20Final%20Report%20110619.pdf