November 29, 2013
Latest Insight newsletter is now available to view online
In this week’s Insight newsletter, available to view online; Nigel Oseland makes a plea not to kill off the open plan office just because it has been misinterpreted; Cathie Sellars explains why Maslow continues to offer us the ideal definition of wellness and Annie Gurton says the ability to find meaning and purpose in our lives trumps financial rewards. Mark Eltringham writes: what Robert Frost can teach us about how we discuss the changing workplace and why he believes attempts to predict the workplace of the future are overwhelmingly rooted in the present. In the news; employers who struggle with “doing mobile”; high tech sector contributes to highest level of commercial real estate activity in over six years and zero-hours contracts are not the evil they’ve been portrayed.
November 18, 2013
Zero hours contracts: Are they really such bad news?
by Adam Hartley • Comment, Flexible working
Zero hours contracts have hardly been out of the news in recent weeks. The overwhelming majority of the media coverage has been negative, suggesting that zero hours contracts are exploitative of workers and should be outlawed. The pressure gauge has risen to such an extent that, in September, the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, announced that there would be a consultation process to tackle any abuse discovered. The Labour Party has also announced it will be conducting its own review. But why all this sudden interest? Zero hours contracts are not a new phenomenon… and, on the face of it, they provide employers with the type of flexibility which the Government has been so keen to introduce, allowing employers to maintain a flexible workforce capable of meeting short-term staffing needs. (more…)