Love them or loathe them, Zero hour contracts are part and parcel of employment practices.  They do tend to work slightly differently employer to employer.

You might see in one a clause that restricts an “employee” from working for another employer whereas others might not have this restriction.

These are known as “Exclusivity clauses”. Some ZH contracts might say that there is no obligation on the employer to offer work and no obligation on the “employee” to accept any. Arguably a waste of time.

Love them or loathe them, Zero hour contracts are part and parcel of employment practices.  They do tend to work slightly differently employer to employer.

You might see in one a clause that restricts an “employee” from working for another employer whereas others might not have this restriction.

These are known as “Exclusivity clauses”. Some ZH contracts might say that there is no obligation on the employer to offer work and no obligation on the “employee” to accept any. Arguably a waste of time.

Personally I don’t find ZH contracts particularly helpful. As they vary for employer to employer, and in some cases restrict a person from taking on other work (and thereby limiting earnings potential) they seem to be unfair (not to mention contentious). If a school is looking at employing someone on one of these as “supply” there really isn’t a great benefit.  By the way, there is no legal requirement to put supply staff on a ZH contract. 

In March 2015, the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill gained Royal Assent, thereby becoming an Act of Parliament. It includes rules about exclusivity clauses in ZH contracts which became effective this week. If an employer has an exclusivity clause in a ZH contract, that clause can no longer be enforced, so effectively, such clauses are illegal.

Whilst this may not help employers, it does help individuals on ZH contracts in that they can take work elsewhere to boost their income.