Policy Briefing: Sufficient and Predictable Hours

In the UK today 6.1 million people are trapped in insecure forms of work, unable to get the regular, secure hours they need to meet everyday needs and plan for the future. It is one of the major challenges facing this UK Government.

• Living Hours accreditation was developed by the Living Wage Foundation through an in-depth listening campaign with over 700 local community leaders who are members of Citizens UK Chapters and spoke to us about their experiences of insecure work. It has been adopted by over 170 Living Hours employers and provides a stretching standard to support a race to the top, where employers who provide security of hours are recognised and rewarded.
• When it comes to sufficient and predictable hours, our Living Hours accreditation can also provide the basis for policy discussions about the introduction of a statutory minimum. We have an existing model, implementation approach and network of supportive employers to bring to this.
• We ran a co-design process with Citizens UK members and Living Hours colleagues, with input from employers and policy advisers, to develop a recommendation for how the UK Government should address the problem of insecure work. We share our findings below.

 Our policy recommendations: 

Strengthen people’s rights and access to predictable, sufficient hours, learning from the Living Wage Foundation’s Living Hours standard, by introducing:

1. A new right to an employment contract that reflects actual hours worked based on a 12-week reference period.
2. The requirement for employers to provide four weeks’ minimum advance notice of shifts with reasonable compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice.
3. A minimum number of guaranteed hours from day one of employment, set out in the employment contract unless the worker requests otherwise.