Zero Hour Contracts and a lacuna in the welfare reforms relating to volunteering
Regarding the welfare reforms, I have been thinking about zero hours contracts and I would like you to debate this issue in Parliament.
The implied duty of mutual trust and confidence in a contract between employer and employee is to act in good faith.
The employer's duty is to remunerate. The employee's duty is to be willing to work.
I am thinking that Zero Hour Contracts could be illegal via the duty of the employer to remunerate. Remuneration requires you to pay something, not nothing. The law requires that something to be the minimum wage.
Whether it can be argued that a basic plus commission on part-time and full-time contracts is a better way forward than zero hour contracts needs to be debated. That would potentially assist IDS to reduce the benefits burden/deficit and keep people out of relative poverty.
But the employee only requires to be willing to work, that does not necessarily mean they actually have to work - so if the employer does not have any work to do, people can feng shui the office, update websites, do blogs, create leaflets and posters, ring round the yellow pages, update proformas, archive their emails, organise a football/netball/hockey match, do volunteering, or second staff to
clients etc - there is usually something that can be done which is not quite company business when there is no work - creativity and imagination.
The emphasis should not be on people on benefits, the emphasis should be on the employer who is exploiting his/her employees.
In English law and the law of obligations a contract comprises three components to be legal: offer + plus acceptance + valuable consideration. That people are doing zero hours and therefore receiving no remuneration it would appear to me to be a breach of the implied duty of mutual, trust and confidence by the employer. Whether there is a special case for employment contracts is not known, but I don't think so.
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I have started a Petition on 38 Degrees (so called because it is the point when an avalanche occurs). My Petition is to raise awareness of a lacuna in the welfare reforms concerning the long-term unemployed, especially those on disability benefits.
People on disabled benefits often recover. A change in their circumstances means that they potentially lose their DLA/PIP and Severe Disability Allowance which can amount to about £500 per month. Some people are not quite "job ready" or there may be insufficient employment opportunity in their locality. Also people on long-term welfare benefits may lack skills, training and education and there is a lack of jobs stating "junior" or "trainee" where people who need to upskill to get back into the job market can join a workforce at a lesser degree of preparation with the employer investing in their staff.
However, my issue is about people engaging in the welfare reforms and doing volunteering. They have not received any benefit whatsoever and the lacuna means that there is no increased benefit for doing unpaid work to replace lost benefits which is potentially discriminatory for disabled people. If you go back to "paid" work, you receive an increment of £40 a week for a year, you receive a tax free threshold of £10,500 per year and if you are on a low income you are entitled to working tax credit. Perhaps you can now see my argument - volunteering is still work but should not be for altruistic reward only.
It is possible to do "permitted work" to the value of £100 and still claim benefits. My Petition proposes that if you do 4 hours voluntary work, you should receive £25; if you do 8 hours - £50; 12 hours - £75 and if you do 16 hours plus - £100. The maximum replacement benefit would be £100 with the potential to earn £400 per month to replace lost benefit with the Government saving £100 as austerity measures. This would keep people especially disabled people out of relative poverty and let them engage in the job market at their level of ability. Something for something.
The DWP collect information on volunteers as the charity has to notify this fact. A simple form perhaps online to your social security number is all that is required and if you really are altruistic then a cross in the box would enable you to receive nothing.
This issue is a serious issue as it is a lacuna in current thinking on welfare reforms which are going to disadvantage many people and put them into relative poverty.
This campaign means a lot to me and the more support we can get behind it, the better chance we have of succeeding. You can read more and sign the petition here:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/paid-benefit-for-volunteering-for-long-term-unemployed
Can you also take a moment to share the petition with others? It's really easy – all you need to do is forward share this link on Facebook or Twitter.
Please sign my Petition. Many thanks.
The implied duty of mutual trust and confidence in a contract between employer and employee is to act in good faith.
The employer's duty is to remunerate. The employee's duty is to be willing to work.
I am thinking that Zero Hour Contracts could be illegal via the duty of the employer to remunerate. Remuneration requires you to pay something, not nothing. The law requires that something to be the minimum wage.
Whether it can be argued that a basic plus commission on part-time and full-time contracts is a better way forward than zero hour contracts needs to be debated. That would potentially assist IDS to reduce the benefits burden/deficit and keep people out of relative poverty.
But the employee only requires to be willing to work, that does not necessarily mean they actually have to work - so if the employer does not have any work to do, people can feng shui the office, update websites, do blogs, create leaflets and posters, ring round the yellow pages, update proformas, archive their emails, organise a football/netball/hockey match, do volunteering, or second staff to
clients etc - there is usually something that can be done which is not quite company business when there is no work - creativity and imagination.
The emphasis should not be on people on benefits, the emphasis should be on the employer who is exploiting his/her employees.
In English law and the law of obligations a contract comprises three components to be legal: offer + plus acceptance + valuable consideration. That people are doing zero hours and therefore receiving no remuneration it would appear to me to be a breach of the implied duty of mutual, trust and confidence by the employer. Whether there is a special case for employment contracts is not known, but I don't think so.
_________________________________________________________________________________
I have started a Petition on 38 Degrees (so called because it is the point when an avalanche occurs). My Petition is to raise awareness of a lacuna in the welfare reforms concerning the long-term unemployed, especially those on disability benefits.
People on disabled benefits often recover. A change in their circumstances means that they potentially lose their DLA/PIP and Severe Disability Allowance which can amount to about £500 per month. Some people are not quite "job ready" or there may be insufficient employment opportunity in their locality. Also people on long-term welfare benefits may lack skills, training and education and there is a lack of jobs stating "junior" or "trainee" where people who need to upskill to get back into the job market can join a workforce at a lesser degree of preparation with the employer investing in their staff.
However, my issue is about people engaging in the welfare reforms and doing volunteering. They have not received any benefit whatsoever and the lacuna means that there is no increased benefit for doing unpaid work to replace lost benefits which is potentially discriminatory for disabled people. If you go back to "paid" work, you receive an increment of £40 a week for a year, you receive a tax free threshold of £10,500 per year and if you are on a low income you are entitled to working tax credit. Perhaps you can now see my argument - volunteering is still work but should not be for altruistic reward only.
It is possible to do "permitted work" to the value of £100 and still claim benefits. My Petition proposes that if you do 4 hours voluntary work, you should receive £25; if you do 8 hours - £50; 12 hours - £75 and if you do 16 hours plus - £100. The maximum replacement benefit would be £100 with the potential to earn £400 per month to replace lost benefit with the Government saving £100 as austerity measures. This would keep people especially disabled people out of relative poverty and let them engage in the job market at their level of ability. Something for something.
The DWP collect information on volunteers as the charity has to notify this fact. A simple form perhaps online to your social security number is all that is required and if you really are altruistic then a cross in the box would enable you to receive nothing.
This issue is a serious issue as it is a lacuna in current thinking on welfare reforms which are going to disadvantage many people and put them into relative poverty.
This campaign means a lot to me and the more support we can get behind it, the better chance we have of succeeding. You can read more and sign the petition here:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/paid-benefit-for-volunteering-for-long-term-unemployed
Can you also take a moment to share the petition with others? It's really easy – all you need to do is forward share this link on Facebook or Twitter.
Please sign my Petition. Many thanks.
posted by Lesley McDade at 10:03 pm
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