Official zero hours estimates count contracts not people

Amid today's announcement by Business Secretary Vince Cable of plans to ban "exclusivity clauses" in zero-hour contracts, the familiar question of how many contracts there are re-emerged.

There are about 1.4 million employee contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours (zero hour contracts and a few others) in Great Britain, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). That is 1.4 million contracts, not people or workers. 

The Telegraph reported the figure was more than a million workers - which, if it's based on the ONS' estimates, is incorrect. We've asked them to clarify.

A separate estimate produced by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found around 1 million people on 'zero-hour contracts'.

The ONS says the difference in the estimates is partly because the CIPD estimate has more larger companies (250 or more employees) in its sample. The ONS found larger companies are more likely to use the contracts than smaller firms, while smaller firms tend to have a larger proportion of their workforce on the contracts when they do use them. It does not comment on which is the more representative sample.