[3] Whether a person working under a zero-hour contract is an employee or a worker can be uncertain; however, even in cases where the plain text of the zero-hour contract designates the person as a "worker" courts have inferred an employment relationship based on the mutuality of obligation between employer and employee.
Zero-hours contracts provide basic social security benefits, including maternity/paternity pay, holiday, and health insurance.
[1][6] In Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher, the UK Supreme Court delivered a judgment on workers employed under a zero-hour contract.
[10] Some commentators have observed that the number of such contracts may be under-reported, as many people may be confusing them with casual employment,[11] and may not be reporting them as temporary.
[13] Based on a survey of 5,000 of its members, Unite, Britain's largest labour union, estimates that as many as 5.5 million workers are subject to zero-hour contracts, 22% of those employed privately.
The survey, conducted by Mass 1, showed that zero-hour contracts were more prevalent in northwest England, among young workers, and in agricultural work.
[29] Trade union groups and others have raised concerns about exploitation and the use of such contracts by management as a tool to reward or reprimand employees for any reason, meaningful or trivial.
[30] A Channel 4 documentary broadcast on 1 August 2013 claimed that Amazon used "controversial" zero-hour contracts as a tool to reprimand staff.
The rapidly growing use of zero-hour contracts was the subject of a series of articles in late July 2013 by The Guardian and as of 2013 was of concern to Parliament.
[33] Vince Cable, the business secretary of the government, considered closer regulation of the contracts but ruled out a ban.
Led by Ian Hodson, president of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union and backed by Julian Richer, it was launched with the aim of ending zero hours contracts.
[42][better source needed] In 2015 in New Zealand, the television show Campbell Live revealed that large corporate hospitality companies such as Burger King and McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr. (all under Restaurant Brands), Sky City and Hoyts, all use zero-hour contracts to reduce costs.