Case study: Zero-hours contracts

We asked strikers to tell us about their personal experiences of how the themes of the strike have affected them. Below, we hear from someone affected by casualisation, who is employed to teach on a zero-hours contract. Decisions taken at various levels of the university have made zero-hours contracts the easiest way for departments to employ people teaching on a non-permanent basis, and use of these contracts has soared in recent years. Many of your PGTAs, and some of your lecturers, are employed on such contracts.

I had no desk and no access to the computer system

When I started working on a zero-hour contract, I had no desk and no access to the computer system, printing or copying facilities, which were absolutely necessary for me to do my job, as I had to put together and print out handouts for most of my classes. Moreover, some of the classes required access to computers. As a result, I had to use the desk and the passwords for computers, printers and copiers that a PhD student kindly shared with me. However, one day an email was sent out with a warning that passwords should not be shared with anyone, after which I could no longer use the student’s details. It was a colleague at the department who eventually helped me get my own access to computers and printers/copiers.

As I had no desk, I had to meet with students in common spaces, which was not optimal as there were other people around us talking loudly and distracting us. After teaching for one term, I was offered by a colleague to share an office with them, which had a free desk. This was a great improvement. However, as my name was not displayed next to the office door, students had problems finding me. Part of my job was to meet with students and guide them in their preparation for presentations, which added to their overall grade. I did my best to inform the students which room I was using. However, the students still had problems finding me, as they were searching for an office with my name on (as they would normally do).


During a term break, I went to the office I was using to collect some of my books only to discover that someone else was already using my desk, with all of my stuff displaced. When I asked around what was going on, I was told that the desk was now being used by someone on a proper [non-zero hours] contract. I was told that because there were several people now working on proper contracts at the department, there was no room for someone like me and that I could only use a hotdesk that was there to be shared by me and four other people in the same position as me. Actually, this was more than what the department had to do: only employees of UCL are entitled to desk space, and zero-hours contract workers aren't entitled to any space at all. None of the above made it easy for me to do my job and was also morally discouraging. Everyone at the department - academic and administrative staff - have been helpful and supportive, but obviously they are not the ones who can or should sort out the problems created by the use of zero-hours contracts.