Zero hours workers may get right to ask for fixed shifts 

Staff in the hospitality industry are particularly likely to be employed on zero-hours contracts Credit: Yves Herman/Reuters

Workers who are not guaranteed any paid time each week could get the right to request fixed hours instead.

A review headed by economist Matthew Taylor, head of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, is looking at working practices in the so-called ‘gig economy’ of staff who work on request with no fixed hours.

He is looking at factors including pay, hours, benefits such as paid parental leave, holiday pay, pensions and taxes.

One recommendation, which was first reported by the BBC, is expected to say that zero-hours workers should be given the right to request fixed hours.

This would match the existing right for staff to request flexible working hours in other jobs - effectively mirroring that policy, and extending the right to request different types of employment to suit a worker’s individual circumstances.

Mr Taylor’s plan is aimed at retaining flexibility for those workers who value their zero hours contracts, while also opening up more options for people who need more certainty in their employment.

Zero-hours contracts are used by employers who need their staff to be flexible, and offer paid shifts only when they are needed - particularly in the hospitality, health and social work industries.

They are often valued by workers who do not want a full-time job and favour flexibility, such as students.

Surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics indicate that one-third of the more than 900,000 people on zero-hours contracts in the UK want to work more hours.

Matthew Taylor is reviewing the gig economy for the Government Credit: RSA

The average person on a zero-hours contract works 25 hours per week, for more than one employer.

But the contracts have also attracted criticism as some employers have been accused of using the contracts in an abuse manner - for instance by refusing to allow staff to work for other employers or insisting that they have to accept all requests to work even at short notice.

A separate issue for Mr Taylor to consider is the tax status of gig workers.

Concerns have grown that some workers are hired as contractors, allowing them and their employer to pay a reduced tax bill - even if the staff are effectively working for only one firm, in the same way as an employee.

A contrasting proposal comes from the Labour Party.

Its manifesto proposes to “ban zero hours contracts – so that every worker gets a guaranteed number of hours each week".