Number of workers on zero-hour contracts up 19%

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released figures which show a rise in the number of people who say they have a zero-hours contract.

Having jumped by almost fifth in a year, it showed that 744,000 have a contract which does not guarantee any hours.

However, the results showed that the rise could be as a result of more people realising what a zero-hour contract is. According to the ONS, those on these contracts are more likely to be either in full-time education, older workers, younger workers or women.

The ONS research estimated that around 1.5 million contracts do not guarantee a minimum number of hours, which suggests that workers are often on more than one zero hours contract.