Not lovin' it: Ninety per cent of McDonald's staff in UK are on zero-hour contracts

Terns mean employees agree to be available for work when it is required

Politicians tell chain to offer minimum guaranteed hours for 82,800 staff

Other food chains which use zero-hours contracts include Subway

McDonald's has admitted it employs 90 per cent of its staff in Britain on controversial zero-hours contracts.
Zero-hours contracts are often critised because they do not offer guarantee work and a stable income. 
Under the terms employees agree to be available for work as and when it is required.

Contracts: Politicians have called for McDonald's to offer at least minimum guaranteed hours for the 82,800 people (file picture)

Politicians have called for the food chain to offer at least minimum guaranteed hours for the 82,800 people.
Andy Sawford, a Labour MP who has campaigned to get rid of zero-hours contracts, told The Guardian: 'McDonald's could lead on addressing this issue.
'There will be some employees working 20 to 30 hours a week, week in week out and it is indefensible not to put those people on contracts.'

 

A spokesman said employees are asked during their application process to say which days they can work on and that although all hourly-paid members of staff are on the zero-hours contracts, they are still entitled to benefits. 
McDonald's employs 92,000 members of staff in the UK and introduced the zero-hours contracts in 1974. 
Other chains which use zero-hours contracts include Subway but it said its stores were independently owned and terms and conditions were set by the franchisees.

Involved: A member of staff prepares food at a Subway, which also has franchises which give employees zero-hour contracts

Pret A Manger, on the other hand, said all of its staff are on a minimum of eight hours guaranteed a week.
Earlier this week it was claimed one million workers may be on the contracts - four times as many as official estimates.

'There will be some employees working 20 to 30 hours a week, week in week out and it is indefensible not to put those people on contracts'

Andy Sawford, Labour MP

The contracts, which are increasingly popular with employers, mean firms do not have to pay staff during quiet periods but keeps them available on short notice for when they are needed.
Last week the Office for National Statistics reported that 250,000 people were on this type of contract at the end of 2012, which was a 50,000 rise in a year.
But research suggests this is a massive underestimate, and that there is a hidden workforce who, in effect, have no guaranteed shifts or income – making childcare arrangements and planning finances almost impossible.
According to a survey of 1,000 companies by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, one in five employed at least one person on a zero-hours contract – or a million workers if the results were applied across the country.