As the zero-hours contracts furore rages this week, retail giant Sports Direct is the first firm to have an employment tribunal case brought against it, in a move to test the legality of the treatment of the company’s part-time employees.
Former Sports Direct part-time worker and member of campaign group 38 Degrees, Zahera Gabriel-Abraham, has brought the legal claim, which is being funded by other 38 Degrees members through donations.
A lawyer acting for Ms Gabriel-Abraham, said that her firm is not arguing that employers cannot have genuine flexible contracts, but the contract under which her client worked, and which all SportsDirect.com’s 20,000 part-time employees appear to be working, has no flexibility at all for those people who sign them.
She added that there was no practical difference between the obligations put on her client by the company and those placed on full-time staff and explained that casual workers traditionally supplement an employer’s salaried staff, to be called upon when cover is needed or demand is high.
However, in return for not having the security of knowing when an individual might work, they also has the benefit of being able to choose when to work. When an individual does not have that choice, they are not a casual worker, just a worker with no job security, she said.
The law firm’s argument is that ‘casual’ part-time employees in this case are actually employees in the conventional sense and that denying them their paid holidays, sick pay and bonuses is unlawful.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for 38 Degrees said that there has been a huge response from its members on the issue, many of whom are on so-called zero hours contracts themselves. By bringing the case, the group wants to show SportsDirect.com that thousands stand with Ms Gabriel-Abraham in her claim.