Zero Hour Contracts
Dear Sunderland City Council,
Under the Freedom of Information Act, please provide me with the following information;
1. How many employees were on zero hour contracts in the last five years if any? Also how many employees there were in total on any type of contract?
2. What rights do employees on these contracts have?
For example, are people on these contracts allowed to refuse
shifts? If you have a standard zero hour contract could you please supply that as well.
3. Can we see a summary of the distribution of age, gender and ethnicity within zero hour contracts?
4. Could I have a breakdown of the roles that a zero contract applies to?
Yours faithfully,
Mr Hedley
Re: Your request for information concerning: Zero Hour Contracts.
Copies of all correspondence, records of meetings and 'phone conversations
between Sunderland City Council and the following local authorities:
Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, South Tyneside - on matters concerning
Newcastle and Gateshead's One Core Strategy, particularly with respect to
population growth, net migration, housing type, location and roads.
The Council aims to provide available information promptly and in any
event within 20 working days, unless, exceptionally, there is a need to
consider whether the information is exempt from disclosure.
Please note that there may be a charge for providing copies of the
information. If the cost of complying with your request in full exceeds
£450, we will ask you to reconsider your request, or to pay a fee before
the information is supplied. If a charge or fee is payable we will let you
know.
I will contact you again soon in connection with your request.
Please quote the reference below if you contact the Council regarding this
request.
Customer Request Number: 13 09 29
Dear Mr Hedley,
Please disregard the acknowledgement email sent below Tuesday September
2013 10:09 as it incorrectly included the paragraph "Copies of all
correspondence, records of meetings and 'phone conversations between
Sunderland City Council and the following local authorities: Durham,
Gateshead, Newcastle, South Tyneside - on matters concerning Newcastle and
Gateshead's One Core Strategy, particularly with respect to population
growth, net migration, housing type, location and roads".
An amended acknowledgement will be sent to you.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Regards
Freedom Of Information
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: Your request for information concerning: Zero Hour Contracts.
The Council aims to provide available information promptly and in any
event within 20 working days, unless, exceptionally, there is a need to
consider whether the information is exempt from disclosure.
Please note that there may be a charge for providing copies of the
information. If the cost of complying with your request in full exceeds
£450, we will ask you to reconsider your request, or to pay a fee before
the information is supplied. If a charge or fee is payable we will let you
know.
I will contact you again soon in connection with your request.
Please quote the reference below if you contact the Council regarding this
request.
Customer Request Number: 13 09 29
Dear Mr Hedley
I refer to your recent request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. I can confirm that the Council does hold this
information, as detailed below.
1. How many employees were on zero hour contracts in the last five years
if any? Also how many employees there were in total on any type of
contract?
2. What rights do employees on these contracts have?
For example, are people on these contracts allowed to refuse shifts? If
you have a standard zero hour contract could you please supply that as
well.
3. Can we see a summary of the distribution of age, gender and ethnicity
within zero hour contracts?
4. Could I have a breakdown of the roles that a zero contract applies to?
The council does not employ people on zero hours contracts, rather we
have Permanent Variable Hours (PVH) contracts in which the employee is a
permanent employee with all the same terms and conditions of employment
and benefits as everyone else, pro rata to the number of hours they
actually work.
I hope this is satisfactory. If, however, you are dissatisfied with our
response to your request for information, you can ask for the decision to
be reviewed in reply to this letter. The review will be removed from the
Directorate and coordinated by the Council’s Information Governance
Officer. A request for review should be directed, by email to
[1][Sunderland City Council request email], by post or by hand addressed to;
Information Governance Officer, Governance Services, Civic Centre, PO Box
100, Sunderland SR2 7DN.
You are of course entitled to apply to the Information Commissioner at any
time, although the Commissioner will not usually investigate until the
public authority’s internal review procedure has been concluded.
Kind regards
Julia Harper
Business Development Officer
Office of the Chief Executive
Sunderland City Council
Room 3.92 - Civic Centre
Sunderland
SR2 7DN
Tel: 0191 5611573
Email: [2][email address]
[3]Proud - Decent - Together
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Sunderland City Council request email]
mailto:[Sunderland City Council request email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. file:///tmp/foiextract20190215-2096-1u95tmc#mapMap
Dear Sunderland City Council,
Under the Freedom of Information Act, please provide me with the following information;
1. How many employees were on "Permanent Variable Hour (PVH)" contracts in the last five years if any? Also how many employees there were in total on any type of contract?
2. What rights do employees on these contracts have?
For example, are people on these contracts allowed to refuse shifts?
3. Can we see a summary of the distribution of age, gender and ethnicity within "Permanent Variable Hour (PVH)" contracts?
4. Could I have a breakdown of the roles that a "Permanent Variable Hour (PVH)" contract applies to?
5. Please supply a standard "Permanent Variable Hour (PVH)" in use at Sunderland Council.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Hedley
Re: Freedom of Information Act 2000
Your request for information concerning: Permanent Variable Hours Contracts
I confirm that your request for information has been received and is receiving attention.
The Council aims to provide available information promptly, and in any event within 20 working days, unless, exceptionally, there is a need to consider whether the information is exempt from disclosure. Please note that there may be a charge for providing copies of the information. If the cost of complying with your request in full exceeds £450, we will ask you to reconsider your request, or to pay a fee before the information is supplied. If a charge or fee is payable we will let you know.
I will contact you again soon in connection with your request.
Please quote the reference below if you contact the Council regarding this request.
Yours sincerely,
Customer Request Number: 131035
Dear Mr Hedley
I have considered your request, but need some clarification from you in
order to identify what information the Council may be able to provide.
Could you please be more specific in your request below (Q5)
"5. Please supply a standard "Permanent Variable Hour (PVH)" in use at
Sunderland Council."
Please note that the Council will not be able to consider your request
further until your reply is received.
Kind regards
Julia Harper
Business Development Officer
Office of the Chief Executive
Sunderland City Council
Room 3.92 - Civic Centre
Sunderland
SR2 7DN
Tel: 0191 5611573
Email: [1][email address]
[2]Proud - Decent - Together
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. file:///tmp/foiextract20190215-2096-1sd1zl3#mapMap
Dear Julia,
Q5 comes as I assume that the council wouldn't draw up a new contract from scratch for every worker they employ on a PVH contract. Normally there would be a template used, which a worker's personal details, job title, salary, etc is added on to. The contract however would outline terms on how the PVH works, is invoked, etc.
To confirm I'm not requesting anyone's personal details or contract. Just a sample of a PVH contract that would be issued to a prospective employee.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Hedley
Dear Mr Hedley
Thank you for the confirmation, I shall pass this to my colleagues who are dealing with your request.
Kind regards
Julia
Julia Harper
Business Development Officer
Office of the Chief Executive
Sunderland City Council
Room 3.92 - Civic Centre
Sunderland
SR2 7DN
Tel: 0191 5611573
Email: [email address]
Dear Mr Hedley
I refer to your recent request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. I can confirm that the Council does hold this
information, as detailed below.
1. How many employees were on "Permanent Variable Hour (PVH)" contracts in
the last five years if any? Also how many employees there were in total on
any type of contract?
Please see attached spreadsheet for figures regarding this question.
2. What rights do employees on these contracts have? For example, are
people on these contracts allowed to refuse shifts?
Employees on Permanent Variable Hours (PVH) contracts have the same
employment rights as any other permanent employee. Please see attached
example letter of appointment for information regarding the consequences
of PVH employees refusing shifts.
3. Can we see a summary of the distribution of age, gender and ethnicity
within "Permanent Variable Hour (PVH)" contracts?
Please see attached spreadsheet for figures regarding this question.
4. Could I have a breakdown of the roles that a "Permanent Variable Hour
(PVH)" contract applies to?
Please see attached spreadsheet for figures regarding this question.
5. Please supply a standard "Permanent Variable Hour (PVH)" in use at
Sunderland Council.
Please see attached documents.
I hope this is satisfactory. If, however, you are dissatisfied with our
response to your request for information, you can ask for the decision to
be reviewed in reply to this letter. The review will be removed from the
Directorate and coordinated by the Council’s Information Governance
Officer. A request for review should be directed, by email to
[1][Sunderland City Council request email], by post or by hand addressed to;
Information Governance Officer, Governance Services, Civic Centre, PO Box
100, Sunderland SR2 7DN.
You are of course entitled to apply to the Information Commissioner at any
time, although the Commissioner will not usually investigate until the
public authority’s internal review procedure has been concluded.
Kind regards
Julia Harper
Business Development Officer
Office of the Chief Executive
Sunderland City Council
Room 3.92 - Civic Centre
Sunderland
SR2 7DN
Tel: 0191 5611573
Email: [2][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Sunderland City Council request email]
mailto:[Sunderland City Council request email]
2. mailto:[email address]
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