has anyone on a zero hours contract, it seems I may have to do this.

Yes, roseq, zero hours contracts are good if you can choose
Lots of people do prefer the flexibility, and I have done it myself, but not as a breadwinner for a family.
As her DM I wish she had chosen the full-time option of course - especially as she was offered the choice.
But I am not her, I am Mrs Cautious!

No, I haven't noticed any posts from bikergran

That was very harsh Absentgrandma - Anniebach can answer for herself but I'm confused as to why you singled her out.

I also work 'freelance', as an agency nurse, similar to your experience of doing different jobs as and when to fit in with commitments, however that is very different from zero-hours contracts .... those employees have to make themselves available to be called in at any time but with no guarantee of any hours of work.

Not much hilarity in that.

I don't think complaining about such contracts is whingeing.

By the way, anyone heard from biker lately?

What was that for, absentgrandma?
Quite unnecessary, in my opinion.

Yes, roseq, zero hours contracts are good if you can choose. The problem is usually when you can't choose.
Did you see the programme about Sports Direct? It's about people who dare not go off sick because they would lose their jobs, and the number of ambulances that had to be called out for people working at their packing factory.

It's a job FFS anniebach. I worked for 7 years on what was ostensibly 'zero hours'. I lived in the back of beyond ...yes, those places do exist in the SE.. surprise, surprise and with a redundant OH and school age kids, no reliable public transport, I was only too happy to work in a tourist attraction which of course meant I worked though the school summer holidays. But it was weekly money for 7 months of the year, after which I could sign on or get by with cleaning work, potato harvesting... you name it I've done it. Do I regret it? Not for a second. And my girls remember those days with great affection....or so they say. "Do you remember when Mum... blah..blah blah" is often the start of hilarity at family get-togethers.
I do get so sick of the whingeing grans on this forum.

DD has chosen a zero hours contract - when in fact she was offered a full-time position with the same firm
She has rent and bills to pay, but says it allows her some leeway to build up what was a hobby into a potential money-earner.

Terribull, did you see the programme about Sports Direct last night?
Thought you might be interested in this.

campaign.goingtowork.org.uk/petitions/decent-work-for-all-sports-direct-workers

How's it going, Biker?

It is illegal, but the law has no teeth.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/26/conservatives-zero-hours-contracts-small-business-act-david-cameron-toothless

Sorry, Bells.

I thought that was supposed to be illegal now, Bellsnwhistles, or are they still talking about it ?
Are you in a union? They could be helpful if that happens again.

Hi bikergran how's it going?

I am a carer on a zero hours contract. It works out all right for me because there is plenty of work available so I can choose to do as many hours as I want. Also my boss tells me it is not an exclusive contract so in theory I could work elsewhere as well but when I tried to put that into practice it didnt go down well and I nearly lost my job. Gulp.

“Re-employed civil servants will not fill posts that have been vacated by staff who have left due to redundancy. They are being re-employed to supplement existing staff levels when required, not replace them,”

That sounds like a bit of obfuscation.

What about this for zero hours contracts?

www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/03/government-scheme-to-rehire-former-civil-servants-on-zero-hours-contracts

I do not think you will get one of these, biker, but you never know.

I was upset to read that Cote keeps all the tips as it is a chain restaurant I also quite like. Unless they change that policy I won't be visiting again though - nor any of those that have been mentioned in recent reports. To pocket the tips of people who are on minimum wages is, I think, disgraceful and gives those restaurants an unfair advantage over restaurants that pass on the tips without any deduction.

My son didn't work in the sport shops, but a fashion chain that was part of the "great man's" empire. This was taken over by him when it was in danger of going under. That's when it became a very unpleasant place to work. It was always very much a pile it high, too many lines and constant new stock type of establishment This chain over expanded too quickly really, I think they may have disappeared now they are no longer in our local shopping centre. It was always very badly run from the top down They did stock a very expensive brand of jeans that were frequently being nicked, because whoever was at the top of the chain of command refused to put security cameras in, so staff were often getting it in the neck when this happened. It was hard to oversee what was going on sometimes, the rails were packed closely together, particularly if they were under staffed and manning the tills. Things got ridiculous in the end, they frequently ran out of basics like till roll and sale stickers, toilet rolls for staff and the like. Head office wouldn't stump up, sometimes with the excuse that they had exceeded their allowable branch expenditure for the month. My son rang head office requesting something or other on a couple of occasions and he would be told "can you go to so and so and buy it in your break" and when he asked if he would be reimbursed, they said "no" so he said naturally "I don't get paid enough to fork out for items that head office should provide" he was deputy managing the shop at the time and would in his words, "be passed from one dickhead to another at head office who hadn't a clue about the problems in their branches and didn't care" The hierarchy couldn't manage, they didn't give a monkeys about their staff only their profit margins. I think was a factor in it's demise. A rubbish outfit to work for.

It was an eye opener to me though, I had no idea how long it took to clear the shop floor after hours, take delivery of new stock and then arrange it on the shop floor for the next day, well into the early hours and no extra for working at really unsociable times.

Thought so. He's well known up here. Gets his way by threatening to take his money elsewhere.

Yes

Sports Direct, Terribull?

Cote is keeping tips I gather, a shame, it's a favourite place for meeting up with a close friend for lunch, I think many people will be annoyed with them.

I'm not very happy with restaurant chains who are keeping staff's tips, even if it's just a percentage, the tip is not intended to go the restaurant, the tip is given for the service to the relevant member of staff. It's unusual to get bad service, in which case we don't leave a tip. We always ask the waiter/ress if the tip goes to them, and if not, we won't add it to the credit card. We have started to make sure that we have some cash on us and then we can give it to them personally.

It is allowed Terribull , as long as unemployment figures are brought down the conditions of employment are of no importance - except to the poor employees

Yes I agree Anniebach. I really hate the way, Amazon, for example treat their staff.

Hope you get something sorted soon bikergran it's stressful & unsettling isn't it? I still think it's very unfair for us & others in similar situation! Fingers crossed here for you.

I'm on a flexible contract, so although I'm only guaranteed work for 12 hrs over wkend I have to be available at other times if needed.

Terribull, it's great your son went on to find work he enjoys. What of the young who have no choice but to stay in the employment that your son was able to move on from , so wrong that employees can be treated this way

After my younger son graduated from university he came back home and picked up with the job he had during and after A levels. This job was ok then. Being a sales assistant in a fashion chain was not part of his long term plan, but needs must at the time. This chain was owned by a greedy bugger who also has sports shops and I believe a football club and likes his staff on zero hour contracts. He was expected to work all sorts of unsocial hours, which he complied with, the unsocial hours were often outside the shop's opening hours as stock was delivered late at night and staff could be sorting it till the early hours of the morning sometimes. The last straw for him was working an early morning shift on Christmas Eve something like 7am to 2pm, and an hour after he got home he was asked to come in that same day, working 10pm till 4am Christmas morning to receive stock and arrange it for the sales. He refused, he already had other plans in place, the shop manager texted him along the lines "it may not be much of a job, but you are lucky to have it!" He texted back "you can keep the job I'm resigning" After that he got down to some serious job searching and was a few months out of work and then got two offers in the same week. He now works for a publishing house in London where he is happy. He has told me when a couple of colleagues there were moaning about temporary long hours for a book launch, although not that long I gather, he said to them if you had ever worked on a zero hour contract in a trashy shop which involved at times working till the early hours of the morning, it would put these hours into perspective.

It's not all bad news, I do think some employers like to see University graduates have done menial every day jobs rather than float off on expensive gap years at their parents expense. My son did get that feedback from his present employer.