their responsibilities and cut staff benefits. Dave Prentis, of the trade union Unison, said: “The vast majority of workers are only on these contracts because they have no choice. They may give flexibility to a few, but the balance of power favours the employers and makes it hard for workers to complain.” Workers on zero-hours contracts are often only told how many hours they will work when weekly or monthly rotas are worked out, but are expected to be on call for extra work at short notice. They should be entitled to holiday pay in line with the number of hours they work, but do not qualify for sick pay. The charity National Trust, which employs many of its seasonal workers on zero-hours contracts, said it offered the same pay and benefits to those workers, pro rata, as full-time staff, but needed some workers to be on a more flexible arrangement. “We believe zero-hours contracts are essential in our organization, as we are very weather- dependent,” a spokeswoman said. “Our properties have told us it’s important to be able to reorganize staff rotas quickly to respond to the weather and zero-hours contracts allow us to do this.” Politician Chuka Umunna said the contracts should be the exception to the rule. “While some employees welcome the flexibility of such contracts, for many, zero-hours contracts leave them insecure and unsure of when work will