Casual contracts and arrangements

With zero hour contracts the employer is under no obligation to offer an employee work but, when it does, the employee is required to accept the offer. With casual contracts there is no mutuality of obligation.

Some examples of casual workers within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead would be:

Schools

• Lunchtime controllers.
• Breakfast and after school club workers.
• Classroom Assistants

Non schools

• Casual Registrar staff.
• Electoral staff.

Casual workers are used to cover peaks in work, when additional support is required for a short period and absences such as holiday cover or sickness, especially in front line services. They are useful in providing a flexible and responsive workforce who we can call upon in times of high need. It also works well for the individuals as our approach allows them the freedom to choose whether they accept the work or not, which is different to how zero hours contracts generally work.

There is no obligation on our part to provide work, however, when we do have work available, the individual is free to choose if it is suitable for them at that time. If it does not fit in with their plans, they can reject the work and we perfectly understand that choice. That is why we have a large number of people available to call upon, because we recognise that working in partnership with our casual workers brings better rewards for our residents and users of the services we provide.