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Scotland\u2019s largest trade union body has expressed alarm over a sharp rise in workers on zero-hours contracts in Scotland which the UK government has pledged to outlaw.<\/p>\n
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows the number of people employed on a zero-hours contract in Scotland over the last three months rose by 16,000, or 20%, from 79,000 to 95,000.<\/p>\n
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has branded the trend a \u201cshameful failure\u201d, claiming employers are behaving without fear of being challenged.<\/p>\n
The information further shows that, over the last year, the increase in zero-hours contracts Scotland was 2.5 times the increase in the UK.<\/p>\n
An assessment by the UK Government found that one in three insecure workers reports an average loss of more than \u00a33,000 per year from cancelled shifts and incurred costs. <\/p>\n
Based on these figures, the STUC estimates that the cumulative impact on loss of pay for workers in Scotland totals \u00a3285 million per year.<\/p>\n
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: \u201cThe 20% rise of workers in Scotland on zero-hours contracts represents a shameful failure of our labour market and employers need to be taken to task for acting with such impunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese contracts tilt the power balance in the workplace entirely in favour of the bosses, trapping workers in a cycle of insecurity and precarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the Employment Rights Act set to crack down on the practice by next January, it\u2019s clear there\u2019s a race to the bottom approach from some companies to exploit as many workers as possible before the reforms take hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re clear that the Act must be delivered in full.\u00a0 Working people can ill-afford political dilly dallying while employers in Scotland increasingly abuse zero-hour contracts.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: good workplaces have nothing to fear. However, bad employers are being put on notice that unions are organising and won\u2019t permit any further erosion or degradation of our working rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
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