Short-Notice Shift Cancellation In Fast Food Industry

EDM number 786 in 2015-16, proposed by Dawn Butler on 30/11/2015.
Categorised under the topics of Employment, Industrial relations and Service industries.

That this House is deeply concerned that a recent survey of popular restaurant chains who collectively operate over 9,000 outlets nationwide found that only a quarter of such employers ruled out cancelling shifts without notice; notes that this practice, known as shift-shafting, can lead to employees arriving at work only to be told they are not needed, or being sent home before even earning enough to cover their travel expenses; commends the good practice of employers such as Eat which offers to redeploy staff onto alternative duties during quiet periods; believes that nobody should leave for work and come home out-of-pocket, but this is happening across the country and yet this is currently completely legal; regrets that some of the chains also use zero hours contracts, or offer very low weekly contracted hours, making the situation even worse; and therefore, in the absence of a voluntary industry-wide agreement, calls on the Government to legislate to end this exploitation of low paid workers.

This motion has been signed by a total of 32 MPs.