The union body warned that the high proportion of women on zero-hours contracts is “hindering progress towards gender equality”.
TUC’s analysis also showed that women are over-represented in eight of the 10 occupations with the highest number of workers on zero-hours contracts, and women are more likely than men to be stuck on exploitative zero-hours contracts for longer than a year (69% compared to 64%).
The union body says this stark gender divide is partly the result of women tending to be employed in sectors characterised by high levels of insecurity and a high prevalence of zero-hours contracts, such as social care and hospitality.
For example, there are nearly twice as many women working as waiting staff compared to men – a profession where 33% of the workforce is on zero-hours contracts. Three-quarters of care workers, the occupation with the second-highest number of zero-hours contracts, are female.
The TUC found that BME women and disabled women are among the groups most affected by exploitative zero-hours contracts. BME women are 103% more likely than white men to be on zero-hours contracts, and disabled women are 49% more likely than white men to be on zero-hours contracts.
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Pay penalty and lack of control
The union body warns that zero-hours contracts come with a significant pay penalty. Its calculations showed that the average zero-hours contract working woman typically earns around £10 per hour less (£11.80 per hour) than the average man not employed on a zero-hours contract (£21.20).
The TUC also claims that zero-hours contracts give employers complete control over workers’ hours – and therefore pay – meaning workers don’t know how much they will work and earn each week. This makes it hard for workers to plan their lives, budget and look after their children.
It also makes it harder for workers to challenge unacceptable behaviour by bosses because of concerns about whether they will be penalised by not being allocated hours in future.
The TUC says the Employment Rights Bill will play a crucial role in securing gender equality in UK workplaces. The bill will ban exploitative zero-hours contracts – including introducing the right to notice of shifts and compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice. It will also secure access to sick pay from day one.
Paul Nowak, TUC’s general secretary, said: “Everyone deserves security at work. But exploitative working practices – like zero-hours contracts – are holding many people back. As ever, women workers are bearing the brunt. They are more likely to be concentrated in sectors with endemic levels of insecure work.
“The Employment Rights Bill will bring forward common-sense reforms to deliver more secure jobs for zero-hours contract workers and help bridge the gap in pay and rights between men and women.
“Those defending the broken status quo are opposing access to better jobs for women across the country.”
