City of Wolverhampton College ditches zero hour deals
Only a handful of workers at a college in the West Midlands are now on controversial zero hour contracts it has emerged.
There has been criticism that staff given the contracts do not know if they have work from one week to the next.
Educational establishments such as universities and colleges were said to be twice as likely to use such contracts as other workplaces, a study by the Universities and Colleges Union last year showed.
But bosses at the City of Wolverhampton College say they are trying to phase out the use of them to be 'a good employer'.
Principal Mark Robertson said: "We have taken a policy decision to move staff over from zero hour where possible. In 2010 we had 24 per cent of staff on zero hour contracts, now it is less than two per cent."
He added those left on the contracts had chosen to do so.
"It is only a handful and the people who are still on the contracts want to be, for example if they are retired and they maybe don't want a permanent job," he said.
"We are trying to build a team of people for the future and that requires stability. It is also about being a good employer," he added.
Figures released in September last year showed that more than 1,000 staff at universities and colleges across the region were on zero hour contracts.
Wolverhampton University was said to have the ninth highest number of workers – 773 – on the contracts, out of 138 institutions throughout the UK.
Education chiefs at the university said the contracts were 'very attractive' to visiting lecturers as they offer more flexibility.
