According to research published by the charity, Citizens Advice, almost a fifth of employers have given contracted staff less than two days’ notice of their shifts.

The findings of the survey “How can job security exist in the modern world of work” also revealed that a significant minority of employers have practices which make it challenging for many people on variable hours’ contracts to manage their work. For instance:

  • 22 per cent of managers admitted that staff are not allowed to turn down a shift
  • 19 per cent said that staff cannot specify times of days when they were unavailable
  • 10 per cent admitted that staff could neither turn down a shift, nor specify their availability
  • seven per cent said they gave staff less than 48 hours’ notice of shifts and that staff could not turn down a shift.

The national charity has made a number of recommendations calling on employers to improve how they manage workers with non-standard contracts, including agency staff and those on zero hours’ contracts.

These include making better use of technology in rota and shift management, such as introducing an app allowing people to specify in advance when they are available for work. Whilst this would give workers more control, it would also deliver efficiencies for business.

Citizens Advice also recommends that large employers should have to publish information on the proportions of their workforce on different types of employment contracts, in much the same way that they have to report on the gender pay gap. By extending the obligation to the types of contracts they use, this would require employers to think about the overall shape of their workforce and the quality of jobs on offer.

The survey of 1,108 line managers, senior managers and HR managers working for public, private and third sector employers based in England and Wales was carried out in October to November 2016.

Neil Todd of Thompsons solicitors added, ““This report makes interesting reading and emphasises the constraints so many workers have placed upon them in seeking to work more flexibly, notwithstanding the ever increasing expectations employers place on them.

It is disappointing that this remains the case given the obvious benefits of promoting flexible arrangements which give workers greater control over their working lives and assists them in bridging the gap with their family lives. Employers also benefit enormously through increased productivity from and increased staff satisfaction levels.”