How zero-hours contracts could be making you ill

The notion of a “job for life” has ceased to exist for most workers in the UK. Companies are shifting the burden of earnings risk to the employee, increasing their use of zero-hours contracts. Depending on your political standpoint, this is either a logical response to the demands of fiercely competitive globalisation, or a way of exploiting workers at the more vulnerable end of the job market.

A growing feature of the “gig economy”, zero-hours contracts represent a significant change in the employment relationship as they guarantee neither work nor pay.