The Farmers Mart Aug/Sep 2015 - Issue 41 | Page 10

Farm News

How to keep your
rural workers casual
Farm work is often seasonal and dictated by
external factors such as market prices and
customer demand, so taking on casual labour can
be particularly useful thanks to its flexibility.

»»Simon Bond, an employment
lawyer with Black Country practice Higgs
and Sons, explains how casual workers can
be employed in a variety of ways, including
through the use of zero hour contracts
where the business does not have to
provide a minimum amount of work.
The popularity and use of zero hour
contracts has increased rapidly. The Office
for National Statistics (ONS) published
figures last year which estimated that in
early 2014, there were around 1.4 million
contracts with no guaranteed hours (ie zero
hour contracts). In addition, there were
250,000 people employed on a zero hour
contract in 2012, which had increased from
189,000 in 2011 and 168,000 in 2010.
But while zero hour contracts can
be useful for employers, they are not
necessarily straightforward to adopt and
can result in uncertainty.
Are your zero hour
workers employees?
It is important for employers to assess
whether any individuals working for them
under a zero hour contract are deemed
to be employees, as this may entitle them
to additional rights and protection such as
from unfair dismissal leg