BRITISH SUMMER TIME COULD AFFECT ZERO HOURS WORKERS' PAY

By Pravin Jeyaraj

For zero hours workers, the clocks going forward could mean more than simply losing an hour's sleep.

Twenty five percent of zero hours workers work during the night, including those in the care sector and the NHS, according to research previously published by the Trade Union Congress. 

Yet, when the clocks went forward at 1 am on 28 March 2020 for British Summer Time, many of them would haver automatically lost an hour's work. 

Zero hours workers are paid at an hourly rate for the hours actually worked. So if they were working at 1 am, they may well end up a losing an hour's pay, compared to if they had worked on any other night.

On the plus side, if they are working when the clocks go back at 2 am on 31 October for Greenwich Mean Time, then they should be paid an extra hour. They are effectively working the hour between 1 am and 2 am twice.

But it is not enough for employers to argue that the lost hour in March is balanced by the extra hour in October. Firstly, the insecurity of zero hours contracts means that someone working 28 March may well not ben working in 31 October. Secondly, if a worker is on the minimum wage, the hourly rate in October will usually be higher than the hourly rate in March.