Plan to end one-sided flexibility 


Hundreds of thousands of flexible workers could benefit from new rights and extra protections if they lose out on work, under proposed government reforms.


The government has put out for consultation proposed new measures for flexible workers, including:


• compensation for workers when shifts are cancelled at short notice;


• entitlement to a reasonable period of notice for their allocated shifts; and


• additional protections for individuals who are penalised if they do not accept shifts at the last minute.


The consultation is the next step after the Low Pay Commission (LPC), the independent body in the United Kingdom that advises the government on the National Minimum Wage, was tasked with investigating one-sided flexibility.


The LPC published a report in December 2018 that found shift cancellations and short notice of work schedules were significant problems, especially for low-paid workers.


The LPC found that approximately 1.7 million individuals were very anxious that their working hours could change unexpectedly. Around one in five (17%) of low-paid workers who had flexible hours were provided with no more than a day’s notice prior to their shift being cancelled.


Nearly 40% of all UK workers said that their hours “tend to vary from week to week”.


TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the proposal were a step in the right direction. 


“But we need to deal with the root of this problem — the explosion of insecure work. That means banning practices like zero-hours contracts,” she said.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/compensation-for-flexible-workers-facing-cancelled-shifts