FOI Req: Zero Hours Contracts

Request 101003226756

I write to request information about your use of zero hours contracts in the tax year 2022/2023 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We are aware that we sent you a similar request for the data on zero hours contract in 2020/2021. We are now interested to know whether this data has changed and some of the questions are different.

For clarification:
•             By zero hours contract, I refer to the definition provided by section 27A of the Employment Rights Act 1996: "a contract for employment or other worker's contract under which
               - the undertaking to or perform work or services is an undertaking to do so conditionally on the employer making work available or services available to the worker, and
               - there is no certainty that any such work or services will be made available to the worker."
•             By minimum hours contract, I mean a contract where the employer guarantees a small number of hours work, say 1 to 10 hours a week, which can be topped up by more hours if available.

1.            What other terminology to do you use for contracts or arrangements meeting the above legal definition of zero hours contract?

2.            How many workers/employees do you currently directly employ on zero hours contracts? What is the breakdown of these figures according to:
(a) sex: Male, Female, Other, Prefer not to say
(b) age: 16-17, 18-20, 21-22, 23-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+
(c) race:
White - English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British Irish
White - Gypsy or Irish Traveller
White - any other background
Asian or Asian British - Indian
Asian or Asian British - Pakistani
Asian or Asian British - Bangladeshi
Asian or Asian British - Chinese
Asian or Asian British - Any other background
Black or Black British - Caribbean
Black or Black British - African
Black or Black British - Any other background
Mixed - White and Black Caribbean
Mixed - White and Black African
Mixed - White and Asian
Mixed - Any other mixed background
Other ethnic group
Prefer not to say

3.            What is the minimum, maximum and average number of hours per week carried out by zero hours staff?

4.            Do you have a policy to offer zero hours shifts with notice, pay for zero hours shifts cancelled at short notice and to offer a fixed hours contracts to zero hours staff based on actual hours worked?

5.            How many workers/employees do you currently indirectly employ on zero hours contracts via agencies, contractors or sub-contractors?  If this data is not available, please provide the names of the agencies, contractors or sub-contractors that you use to employ workers indirectly.

6.            How many workers/employees do you currently directly employ on minimum hours contracts or via agencies, contractors or sub-contractors?

7.            How many workers/employees in total do you currently employ? What is the breakdown of these figure according to same breakdown as Question 2? - please note this question concerns your entire workforce, not just zero hours staff.

Response 13-04-2023

1. Relief

2. The response to your request can be found here.

3. There is no minimum hours a zero hours worker carries out. We do not have a maximum; some staff work more than the FTE and go into overtime. We are unable to provide a weekly average as Payroll do not hold a weekly breakdown of hours worked, they just have the hours paid per month. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.

4. No

5. 15 staff employed through an agency for 2022/23.

6. 30 care at home sessional workers on zero hours contracts, 2 who are on secondment as Care Schedulers and one as a social care assistant.

7. The response to your request can be found here.