The total number of workers on zero hour contracts peaked at an estimated 1.8 million in August 2014, higher than the previous ONS report in January 2014, likely because of seasonal workers being used in the summer months.
Zero hours contracts do not guarantee a minimum number of hours for employment. The Labour Work Force, which is a survey of individuals in households, is 697,000 employees on zero hours contracts for October to December 2014, representing 2.3% in employment.
Chuka Umunna, Labour's shadow business secretary, said: "Ministers have watered down every person's rights at work and zero-hours contracts have gone from being a niche concept to becoming the norm in parts of our economy."
But Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "Zero-hours contracts are valued by many employers and individuals who want flexibility in the hours they work, such as students, people with caring responsibilities and those who want to partially retire.
"However, historically there has also been some abuse in these types of contracts."
The British Hospitality Association (BHA) supports the use of zero hours contracts as long as both the employer and the employee have agreed flexible working opportunities, with the employee having the freedom of choice.
Martin Couchman, chief executive of BHA, said: “Zero hours contracts are intended to give employees flexibility so they can have a job without committing to full time availability. They’re a great option for students, those taking care of family or people with other commitments. The name is a misnomer. The industry supports mutually agreed flexible working opportunities, so long as it's a non-exclusive relationship and the employee has the freedom of choice.
The real issue is that they provide flexibility on both sides. There is pretty much agreement on all sides that exclusivity clauses, about to be banned, should be banned because they can restrict workers from having a second job. The numbers of ZHC aren’t the point because they’re August, peak holiday numbers and nobody has a handle on the numbers.”