Zero Hour Contracts: A Debate on Negative Consequences & Reflection

This report presents a debate on the negative consequences of zero-hour contracts for both employees and businesses. It argues that these contracts lack the stability and benefits of full-time employment, causing income uncertainty and unpredictable work schedules for employees. Businesses als...Read More

Topical Debate and
Reflection

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Use of zero hour contract has negative consequences to both employees and business.............3
Skills which have been developed during the debate..................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6
Books and Journals.....................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Debate is a two way process in which the one part says against the topic and the another is for
the favour of the topic. Both the teams have chances to speak on the topic which has been given
to them so that they can put their views on it. Zero hour contract is a contract in which there is no
time boundation to the employees to do the work. This debate will be covered on the topic” Use
of Zero hour contract has negative consequences to employees as well as business”.
MAIN BODY
Use of zero hour contract has negative consequences to both employees and business
The Zero hour contract is a term which is used in UK and is defined the contract which is
between employee and the employer in which the employer is not bounded to provide any
minimum time to the employee(Wigfield and Koenka, 2020). Zero hour contract is not a proper
employment which is given to employees which is why they are not considered to be the proper
part of any organisation. The main difficulty which the employees have to face in context with
the zero hour contract is that there is no fixed income which can be given to the employees as it
wholly depends on the employers as to give them the work because at sometimes there is peak
load and at some point there is not. Every organisation provides the job to the employees in a
part time when there is any peak load or there is an excess work. The other main negative point
of zero hour contract is that the employers of the workplace can call the employees at any time
which does not gives them flexibility to spend time with their family or friends. It is because the
time which can be called by the employers may be at that point which is considered to be
unsociable hours. It is also seen that people who are engaged in the zero hour contract are also
working in other places or are having other responsibilities and in this type of contract employers
can call the employees at any time (GREGO,2019). On the side of business, business is
unpredictable on the side of employees that they are not bounded to accept the work which
means the employers and the business is always on risk in a zero hour contract. Thus, employers

and the business are not on the flexible side and they can not even plan the finances of such zero
hour contract employees because the day in which employees will work is uncertain. The
business is restricted to stop the employees to work in other place and even if that place is the
competitor of that particular business. Zero hour contract does not provides the fix time to the
employees in which they have to work and in similar to this the employees are also not restricted
to not work in other places. According to the opponent team which are on the positive side of
zero hour contract, that the contract provides enough flexibility to people which mostly includes
the students to do the work according to the agreement which has been made by the employer
and by this way they can have the earning also(Barrett, 2019) . They are also on the positive side
in consideration with the opportunities which the employees will get and that is the extra time to
do some other work. To take a job and that too in zero hour contract is a greater way by which
the employees can be benefited because they get ample of opportunities and also they are not
confined to the job for longer term which the full time employees has to do. They can leave the
job at any time if they found the other job which is giving them extra money or something else.
Skills which have been developed during the debate
 Communication skills- During the time of debate and practising on speaking the way by
which the debate will be said I have developed my communication skills. For developing
and increasing the communication skills it is important to engage in such activities which
has helped me to develop this skill(Jia and Desa, 2020). This is one of the most important
skill which needs to be developed by any individual as this is used in job place and I
knew that this will help to make my communication better and effective because in
debate there will be cross question-answer which needs to be answered.
 Problem solving skills- At any time there might come a phase in which the individual
needs to solve the situation which might be complicated to them. I am not the kind of
person who can provide the solutions to tough circumstances but by working and
participating in a team I have developed this skill of problem solving. It is because
gathering information and material in debate becomes very difficult as the material which
have to be collected needs to be perfect and correct which is a difficult point and by this
only I have realised as to how to solve such type of situations.
 Team work skills- It is the most important skill which is used in while studying and also
in career when I have to work with other people(Matthäus, 2019). Participating in such

things has helped me to work in team because in the debate also there were many people
with whom I have to work. Team work skills always requires cooperation and
coordination which needs to be developed by working in such activities which I have
done by participating and working in a debate.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that zero hour contract is definitely on the negative
side for both the employees and the business. It is because employees does not get the benefits
which the full time employees in the work place gets and they can be called at any time.
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION
I participated in a debate on the topic on the negative outcome of usage of Zero hour
contracts to both employees and business firms. During the preparation of this topic I developed
several skills which helped in successful completion of these debate. I was able to gain
employability skills through participation in this debate which are essential for my professional
development in the future. I faced various barriers during preparation and participation in this
debate which hindered my ability to gain complete proficiency in these skills.
Communication skill was the primary skill which I developed through preparation and
participation in this debate. Communication skills are essential employability skills in the current
age as effective commination between employees plays an important role in smooth functioning
of the company. I was able to develop written communication skills during the preparation of
this debate as I had to develop a individual debate report which included arguments in favour of
the4 debate topic. I used my knowledge about report writing and formal written communication
to develop concise report which can be easily understood. This is an important skill as creating
report is one of the most common corporate tasks (GOMEZ and PETER, 2017). I will utilize my
written communication skills to gain benefits in my future professional career. The primary
challenge I faced during development of written communication skill was about finding relevant
and authentic sources to conduct my research and offer a reliable argument in favour of the
debate topic. This was time consuming task and affected the quality of my writing almost of my
team was taken by finding authentic research sources. I need to develop quick research skill as it
hampers my written communicant skills.

I developed good speaking skills from participating in debate. I was tasked with speaking
my arguments with research which sports every argument. My confidence in effectively
presenting arguments increased by participating my speaking skills daily. This preparation
improved my confidence and helped deliver effective arguments during the debate. Speaking
skills with good confidence are important employability skills which are needed for professional
development. Speaking skills are considered employability skills as employees have to speak in
meeting and group discussion to manage subordinates and effectively communicate with senior
employees (Paredes and Rodriguez, 2021). I will be able to utilize my confidence and speaking
skills to effectively manage team in work based context and quickly gain career advancement. In
addition to this effective speaking skills will also help me communicate with clients and
persuade them to purchase services of products of my company. I faced the barrier of not being
able to keep the attention of the listener for long time period as delivery of my arguments
sounded robotic. This barrier reduced effectiveness of my speaking skills and stopped me from
gaining full proficiency in speaking skills.
I was able to acquire management skills in preparation and planning a debate. I organized
my arguments in a manner so that my arguments are presented in a structured manner and the
listener is easily able to follow my line of argument. In addition to this I created schedule to
complete my activities in a timely manner and planned daily activities so that I am able to
prepare high quality individual debate report. This helped me develop management skills and
understand various tasks associated with planning and preparing a debate. Management skills are
needed to gain senior level position as they are required to handle team of subordinates. In
addition to this management skills are useful as they help to motivate others and build high
performing team (Sisodia and Agarwal, 2020). I will be able to utilize my management skills to
gain senior position in business firms quickly. My planning skills will help me assign suitable
roles to every employees at the workplace, build schedules and ensure smooth functioning of the
company. The main obstacle which I faced during development of this skill was related to
ineffective time management. I was not able to follow the schedule which created disorder and
affected the quality of work produced. I belie that I would have been able to produce work of
higher quality if I had better rime management skills and was able to follow my schedule
effectively. I was not able to concentrate on completing specific tasks as per my schedule and got
distracted which affected my detailed planning and organizing negatively. This will affect my

employability and growth in future career as I will not be able to provide high quality outcome in
specific time if I am not able to follow and implement my own plans and schedules.
Action Plan for further development
Objective Specific Measurable Attainable Reliable Timely
To develop
time
management
skills
This is
specific
objective as it
aims to attain
time
management
skills.
This skill can
be measured by
determining
improvement
in time
management
and completing
tasks under
schedule.
This skill can be
easily attained by
utilization of 4-D
time management
tool. I will utilize
this too to
prioritize
important tasks
and delegate less
significant tasks to
ensure timely
completion and
strict adherence to
designed plans and
schedules.
This is reliable
objective as it
helps adhere to
developed
plans and
schedules and
assists in timely
completion of
objectives.
3 months
To improve
speaking
skills
This specific
objective as it
aims to
enhance
speaking
skills.
The
measurement
criteria to
develop this
skill is to
deliver
arguments and
speeches on
public places in
persuasive and
non-robotic
I will ensure
betterment of my
speaking skill by
taking online
courses on ways to
deliver persuasive
arguments and
improve body
language in a
debate. This will
help me improve
This is relevant
objective as it
helps in
development of
valuable
employability
skill.
6 months

manner. my speaking skills
as I will be using
verbal
communication
and body language
to dev liver
persuasive
arguments.
To build
research
skills
This is
specific
objective
which aims to
develop quick
research
skills.
The objective
will be
measured in
improvement
in speed of
gathering
reliable sources
for research.
This objective can
be attained by
utilization of
CRAPP test.
This is relevant
objective as
research skills
assist in
academic and
professional
development.
3 months

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barrett, G., 2019. The Irish Parliament and Brexit. In
Brexit and Democracy (pp. 179-205).
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
GOMEZ, S. J. and PETER, A., 2017. DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK FOR
EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS OF MANAGEMENT GRADUATES.
CLEAR
International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, 8(10).
GREGO, K.S., 2019. The scientific debate in English-speaking texts: Between ESP and
CDS.
International Journal of Language Studies. 13(4).
Jia, X. and Desa, G., 2020. Social entrepreneurship and impact investment in rural–urban
transformation: An orientation to systemic social innovation and symposium
findings.
Agriculture and Human Values. 37(4).pp.1217-1239.
Matthäus, J., 2019. Depicting “Ordinary Men”: Browning, Goldhagen, and the Historiographic
Use of Perpetrator Photographs. In
Beyond" Ordinary Men" (pp. 234-249). Ferdinand
Schöningh.
Paredes, A. A. P. and Rodriguez, A. J., 2021. Employability Skills and Geographical
Location.
Journal of Organizational Psychology, 21(3). pp.101-120.
Sisodia, S. and Agarwal, N., 2020. Synthesising employability skills with classical theories of
motivation in the healthcare industry.
International Journal of Indian Culture and
Business Management, 21(2). pp.181-205.
Wigfield, A. and Koenka, A.C., 2020. Where do we go from here in academic motivation theory
and research? Some reflections and recommendations for future work.
Contemporary
Educational Psychology. 61. p.101872.