Zero hours contracts

I would trust her, as she has good references. It could be my eldest granddaughter, who has a first class degree, but has a zero hours contract in a hotel, where she worked all the time she was taking her degree.
She finished over a year ago, and still cannot get a decent job in her line of work. She might end up having to train to be a teacher!

My DD did her management training in Mc Donald's Absent . She was on a minimum hours contract meaning that there was a set minimum hours she could be contracted to work although she invariably worked many more. Many of the staff were on zero hours contracts but to be honest they tended to have the opposite problem and staff wanted to pick and choose if and when they worked. My DD said it was very hard getting the young students to work the unsocial hours like evenings or weekends.

Personally I think there should be a formal approach to working contracts and that companies should be forced to make the contracted hours clear from the outset. For example 10 hours per week or 30 and then those who want the flexibility (students and the likes) are happy and those who need a more reliable income can seek contracts with longer working weeks. Zero hours contracts don't benefit anyone in the long run.

A lady in our street let her flat to a young woman with good references. She paid the deposit and three months rent in advance but unfortunately never paid another penny and also trashed the place. She had to evict her and spend a lot of money replacing furniture, carpets and fittings. Bit of a gamble taking someone with zero hours contract.

Harrigran I agree it's a financial risk taking on a tenant whose on zero hours but she could have been on 30k a year and still trashed the place.

I have already had a tenant in another house who stopped paying rent and, while not actually trashing the place, caused quite a lot of expensive damage. This was something of a double whammy as we had just spent a lot of time and money refurbishing the house, plus new curtains, carpets, etc. and he was in work.

This woman has a partner (who would not be a joint tenant) and a 20-month-old baby. My every instinct is to say yes, but I don't want to be let down so badly again. These rotten zero hours contracts cause so much angst in so many ways.

Zero hours contracts can suit some people, if they are run fairly.
If people can accept or turn down work, when it is offered, so that they can fit it into their life along with study / childcare / other job / whatever, it can work out fine for everyone.
It's when the zero hours contract is forced onto an employee who doesn't want that and who is expected to have no other employment or commitments, so that they can be constantly available, that things get difficult.

to quote from Tony Blairs speech in 1995

"A Labour government will be part of the European Social Chapter. Part-time employees will no longer be treated as second class citizens. There will be an end to zero-hours contracts. Young people will be properly protected against under age working and joining a trade union will be a matter of free choice, but where that choice is exercised, there will be a right to representation and, where the majority want it, a right to union recognition."


only about 6% of jobs are zero hours contracts and there is a section of the working population who like the 'flexibility' so long as it is not forced on them.

I wish it was abolished, and lets revert back to the good old method of employment.
This were you agree with your terms & conditions of employment, and also gives you few golden rules as to that employment.
With zero hours I gather you have a day off or time off without pay.
There is no Employer/Employee responsibility's, so if you had an accident at work a zero rated contract gives you no cover, such as sick pay.
Mick

Was the tenant on the exact same zero hours contract when she rented from the previous landlord?

Not that that is an absolute guarantee of anything, but will give you more information.

I would think that being an experienced landlord absent you are well aware that you are in a domain that requires head over heart thinking to make your decision.

You say she has a partner and a 20 month year old child so again you probably know what welfare benefits she is in receipt of as she would have disclosed all income, at least that's what I expect you to ask for.

I think the zero hours aspect of your plight is only a part of your decision making but if you are not sure then do as you probably always do and go with your gut feeling. As you have said you can easily make misguided decisions whatever the initial ability of the Tennant to pay.

Being a landlord is a game of chances, when your Tennant is reliable it works out well for both of you, when your Tennant is a nightmare you have learnt what the out come is. The ball is in your court and only you can make your decision surely.

As for zero hours they are a god send to some and their choice of employment. I have said before my husband chose to do zero hour working for personal reasons and my father had at least 3 carers who chose to work zero hours to tend to their family commitments, they moaned they were being asked to commit to more hours than they wanted. The government has legislated against 'exclusivity' zero hour working , quite rightly.

I do however understand that zero hours /casual working , which is nothing new, can be a problem for those looking for full employment or guaranteed part-time work.

Good to see you comment on this thread 12Michael - I agree with you. Zero hours contracts should be abolished. It feel like we're going backwards to the times when men would wait at the docks to see if they'd get a days work. No security, no sick pay, no annual leave and the fear that if you turn down work you simply won't be offered any more.

I do agree Iam64. It feels shameful to put folks in such a position in this century.

Would you offer her a lease if she was a freelance, absent?

These zero hours contracts are iniquitous and I believe that over a million people are subjected to them. How on earth people can plan for the future under such conditions of employment is a mystery to me. They are not eligible for a mortgage and if they are seen as a bad risk by landlords they won't be able to rent, either.

The thread has drifted to zero hour working rather than the question in the OP, always going to be the case.

697.000 people are on zero hour contracts, representing 2.3% of the total workforce.

It increased by 28% last year but the ONS say that is NOT the result of a surge in zero hour jobs being offered but more to do with increasing recognition of the contracts by those being asked by researchers about their employment.

Around 1/3rd of those on zero hours / casual labour want more hours.

Zero Hours are now the buzz words whereas Casual Labour which has been around for ages is hardly ever used by the media or those who are opposed to zero hour/casual labour. MP's, councils, even in Green Council controlled Brighton use zero hour/casual labour .

I am not disagreeing that zero hours/casual labour does not work for some but I reiterate that not everybody is unhappy with zero hour/casual labour employment and nobody is speaking up for them are they!

My next door neighbours are reliant on zero hours contracts. She is currently on maternity leave (unpaid) and he juggles two or three jobs. Yesterday and this morning, he left the house at 7.30am, being picked up by a white van man to go and do some labouring on a building site. Yesterday, he was home at two, nipped indoors to get changed and drove off in his car to do another job. His working pattern changes every few days - sometimes he's at home for a few days, then he'll work ridiculous hours to keep on top of finances. They get tax credits and housing benefit, but it's so messy, it has to be reassessed regularly because of their odd work arrangements. If he falls ill, they're scuppered.

Going back to your original question absent could you get some sort of rent guarantee? We had to provide one for our son for his rented property at Uni.

Are you sure they're on zero hours contracts, when? Workers on those contracts do have rights m.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4468 but there are still plenty of casual workers around especially in construction and catering. And in agriculture. They don't have contracts. Agency workers aren't guaranteed work, and they are often treated as self-employed.

Yes, they are Lily. They eventually get their benefits adjusted when work dries up or they earn sufficient to affect entitlement, but they are messed about meanwhile. A retail sports shop is one of the employers they both work for - phone calls on the day are the norm for them knowing what work is available.

Lilygran I had a look at your link and rights for employees on zero hours contracts don't seem very reassuring.

The main issue is not knowing how many hours work you will get a week and therefore how much you will earn. Conceivably, workers might do two hours at minimum wage!

I have paid a mortgage for almost all its lifetime on a zero hours contact.
No probs, it depends upon the employer, you need a reference from them too. I work for a multi national company though and trust them thoroughly.

btw I have never missed a payment yet.

My son worked on zero hours contracts for a long while when he first moved up to live with his GF (now wife). Gave him the opportunity to try lots of jobs, he was rarely out of work.