Firms in the UK used 1.8 million zero-hours contracts at the height of last summer, official statistics show. The total, in the first two weeks of August, was higher than the 1.4 million contracts revealed when figures were first collected in January last year. This is likely to be the result of a number of seasonal industries using more of these contracts, making a direct comparison difficult. Zero-hours contracts do not guarantee a minimum number of hours of employment. Some workers and unions are unhappy that staff can simply be sent home if there is no work to be done. But supporters of the contracts like the flexibility that they can offer.....Read more Here