'Zero Hour Contract'?

Her 'Zero Hour Contract' says she has to give them 30 days notice if she plans to no longer work for them.

So much for 'flexibility' for the worker.

If an employer is under no obligation to provide a set number of hours or working pattern doesn’t that make the employee a freelancer? What’s the point?

It sounds like the employer is abusing the zero hours contract, which is intended for casual workers. Her local citizens advice bureau should be able to help.

She also has to give 30 days notice if she wants to stop working for them.

It sounds like the kind of at-will employment that most US employers use. Most US hourly jobs--retail, food service, etc are like this but I've had office jobs where the employer would often tell us to come in more or less depending on the need. And of course, you're still expected to give notice to these jobs and they don't provide vacation or other time off. So it's moving towards the US system, which is probably not a good thing for employees.

A timely article from the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/14/hello-zero-hours-goodbye-workers-rights

Reading it now, thanks darling!

Thanks for posting this.  I had not heard of the term 'zerohour' before this.

It sounds like the kind of at-will employment that most US employers use. Most US hourly jobs--retail, food service, etc are like this but I've had office jobs where the employer would often tell us to come in more or less depending on the need. And of course, you're still expected to give notice to these jobs and they don't provide vacation or other time off. So it's moving towards the US system, which is probably not a good thing for employees.

No, it's not a good thing.  It might be good for students or part-timers, but it essentially boils down to regressive workplace conditions & tenuous job security. Another article from a couple days ago...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/29/postal-privatisation-zero-hour-workers

I remember first hearing of this working arrangement several years ago in the course of the job I had, for some of our clients who were calling themselves 'bank workers' - often social care type positions (healthcare, nursing homes, etc) & I hadn't the foggiest idea what 'bank work' meant (I thought it meant you worked for a bank!). Had to have someone explain to me what this was - essentially no guaranteed hours or schedule, what hours a person works might vary wildly from one week or month to the next. This is bad news for grownup people who have bills to pay - mortgage/rent, utilities, food, etc. It's nearly impossible to develop a working monthly budget for even just the basics if you don't know how much/if/whether you'll have any money coming in from one month to the next. It seems 'bank work' is now called 'zero hours'.  

If a company is pulling so close to the wind that one more 16-hour a week contract will break it, isn't it time to close up shop?