«Zero-hours contracts» in the United Kingdom: regulating casualwork, or legitimating precarity?

Journal title GIORNALE DI DIRITTO DEL LAVORO E DI RELAZIONI INDUSTRIALI
Author/s Abi Adams, Mark Freedland, Jeremias Prassl
Publishing Year 2016 Issue 2015/148
Language English Pages 25 P. 529-553 File size 125 KB
DOI 10.3280/GDL2015-148001
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Nel Regno Unito i c.d. "contratti a zero ore", o intermittenti, costituiscono una tra le questioni piú importanti degli ultimi anni, e hanno portato il governo a regolarli nell’ambito della legge del 2015 su Small Business, Enterprise and Employment. In questo articolo gli A. presentano ed esaminano l’emergere del dato legale ed empirico del lavoro prestato in base a tale forma contrattuale e suggeriscono che, mentre ha tardato ad arrivare una sistemazione giuridica di tali contratti poiché considerati una questione irrisolta del mercato del lavoro, il pensiero corrente riguardo ad essi è sostanzialmente debole: non esiste un’entità che comprenda i contratti a zero ore come categoria a se stante; l’etichetta ha la funzione non meno che di una comoda espressione per mascherare la crescita esplosiva del lavoro precario prestato da una forza lavoro altamente frammentata. La recente "regolazione" dei contratti a zero ore, che si limita in realtà a vietare le clausole di esclusiva, pertanto costituisce nient’altro che uno spostamento significativo verso la normalizzazione di qualsiasi manifestazione estrema di forme contrattuali abusive, lasciando un numero crescente di lavoratori privi del ricorso alle norme di protezione. Nella conclusione si indica la via per un approccio maggiormente coerente alla de-normalizzazione e disciplina di questo rilevante e crescente insieme di forme negoziali precarie.

Keywords: Zero-hours contracts; Subordination; Exclusivity clauses; Intermittent work.

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Abi Adams, Mark Freedland, Jeremias Prassl, «Zero-hours contracts» in the United Kingdom: regulating casualwork, or legitimating precarity? in "GIORNALE DI DIRITTO DEL LAVORO E DI RELAZIONI INDUSTRIALI " 148/2015, pp 529-553, DOI: 10.3280/GDL2015-148001