Cathal BarryBishop Kevin Doran has criticised employers who impose ‘zero-hour’ contracts on their staff.
The Bishop of Elphin said the practise was “designed to give all the advantage and flexibility to the employer (or to capital) at the expense of the person who actually brings the greatest value to the work”.
So-called ‘zero-hour’ contracts involve workers who are theoretically employed and have to be available on a full-time basis but with a guarantee of no more than 25% actual employment and income.
In a homily for the feast of St Joseph the Worker, Bishop Doran said that while it is “right and just that employers and entrepreneurs should make a profit to compensate for their investment and for the risk that they take”.
However, he insisted that “the profit made by those who control capital should not be disproportionate to the income received by those who provide the work that ultimately gives value to capital. “A just wage is not determined simply by the need of the employer to make profit, but must also take into account the need of the worker to live with dignity and to provide for the needs of his or her dependent family members,” he warned.
Bishop Doran also cautioned that the needs of the economy “are often offered as an excuse for the exploitation of workers, or indeed for unemployment”.
“In our attempts to grow the economy, we need to remember that the economy is meant to be for people, rather than people being for the economy,” he said.