Palace hits back over zero-hours staff claims
31 July 2013
Buckingham Palace has hit back at a report in The Guardian today which claims that its 350 part-time summer staff are employed on controversial zero-hours contracts.
Wed, 31 Jul, 2013Buckingham Palace has hit back at a report in The Guardian today which claims that its 350 part-time summer staff are employed on controversial zero-hours contracts.
Under such contracts, workers are employed by a firm but not guaranteed any work. They are asked to accept work as and when it becomes available. The contracts are also often characterised by workers not receiving sick pay or other benefits.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told Recruiter that The Guardian is selective in its reporting. The spokesperson said the staff are employed on fixed-term employment contracts and accepted that these contracts do not include a guaranteed number of hours. However, she pointed out that that staff rotas are drawn up a month in advance and that staff “get the hours they expect”.
She insisted that the workers, whose duties include welcoming the 500,000 visitors to the Palace each summer, have “the same rights as any other employees”. These include sick pay, holiday entitlement and opportunities to join a pension.
The Guardian reports that the workers have to seek permission from their line manager to take up other employment while working at the Palace. The spokesperson said the paper failed to say this policy applies to all employees.
The spokesperson pointed out that 98% of the summer staff said they enjoyed their experience working at the Palace. Evidence for this was that many of them return to work there year after year.
Earlier this week, The Guardian reported that nearly 90% of staff at retailer Sports Direct are employed on zero-hours contracts.
In June, business secretary Vince Cable asked his officials “to undertake some work to better understand how this type of contract is working in practice today”. This study is expected to be complete by the autumn.
Under such contracts, workers are employed by a firm but not guaranteed any work. They are asked to accept work as and when it becomes available. The contracts are also often characterised by workers not receiving sick pay or other benefits.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told Recruiter that The Guardian is selective in its reporting. The spokesperson said the staff are employed on fixed-term employment contracts and accepted that these contracts do not include a guaranteed number of hours. However, she pointed out that that staff rotas are drawn up a month in advance and that staff “get the hours they expect”.
She insisted that the workers, whose duties include welcoming the 500,000 visitors to the Palace each summer, have “the same rights as any other employees”. These include sick pay, holiday entitlement and opportunities to join a pension.
The Guardian reports that the workers have to seek permission from their line manager to take up other employment while working at the Palace. The spokesperson said the paper failed to say this policy applies to all employees.
The spokesperson pointed out that 98% of the summer staff said they enjoyed their experience working at the Palace. Evidence for this was that many of them return to work there year after year.
Earlier this week, The Guardian reported that nearly 90% of staff at retailer Sports Direct are employed on zero-hours contracts.
In June, business secretary Vince Cable asked his officials “to undertake some work to better understand how this type of contract is working in practice today”. This study is expected to be complete by the autumn.
