Cambridge has backtracked on a policy which would have regularised staff contracts — a decision the Cambridge branch of the University and College Union called “unfortunate”.

Cambridge’s Predictable Working Policy, which has now been withdrawn, stated that all employees and agency workers would have “a statutory right to request a predictable working pattern”. This would have effectively banned zero-hour contracts for University staff — excluding circumstances where there is a “genuine business reason” for zero-hour based employment.

Cambridge UCU has criticised the walk-back, saying it shows the University “has been reactive rather than proactive with addressing the significant problems that Cambridge has with job insecurity”.

A representative from Cambridge UCU told Varsity: “This affects staff wellbeing and is a detriment to the University not least through its impact on employee retention”. They continued: “For the University to remain competitive we would like to see future policy revisions in this area to go further to address this problem than the minimum required to comply with UK law”.

Cambridge’s policy withdrawal came after the Labour Government decided not to implement The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 — which would have given workers the right to request a regular contract. The Act was expected to come into force last month, but has since been scrapped.

The University is not the only Cambridge institution facing criticism around precarious contracts. Earlier this month, Varsity revealed that the Cambridge Student Union (SU) advertised for a new team of staff under zero-hour contracts — despite having supported calls to abolish them.

The SU has previously supported the 2021 UCU campaign for “a framework to eliminate the use of precarious contracts,” and continues supports the Justice4CollegeSupervisors Campaign (J4CS).

The SU has also claimed to “support the campaigning of low-paid workers”. The receptionists — which they recently advertised for – will be paid £12. Receptionists will have to be available Monday to Friday, despite working a zero-hour contract.

This comes as J4CS announced their negotiations theme for the upcoming academic year would be “contracts”. “After successfully winning a >20% pay rise for supervisors last year, we will soon be negotiating with the Colleges on installing contracts for Supervisors across the University,” J4CS shared.

Supervisors in Cambridge are often employed on a part-time basis. Earlier this year, a report by the Office of Intercollegiate Services found supervisors are being paid an effective hourly pay rate £3 below the national living wage.

Cambridge’s walk-back on precarious contracts will not just affect supervisors, but agency workers employed by the Temporary Employment Service (TES). This includes some secretarial, administrative, and reception workers, and cover staff for libraries, museums, and IT, finance, marketing and event planning departments.

Pauk Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said banning zero-hour contracts should be a priority. “I would challenge any business leader or politician to try and survive on a zero-hours contract not knowing from week to week how much work they will have,” he said.

A recent survey, reported in the Guardian, revealed 75% of participants on zero-hour contracts struggled to meet their living expenses. 2/3 of those surveyed were seeking more work to make ends meet, but the majority were denied additional hours by employers.

The University of Cambridge said: “As the legislation did not come into force, the draft Predictable Working Policy was not implemented, but we understand the government will be drafting new legislation in due course. In the meantime, we remain committed to fair employment practices and are actively exploring ways to support our casual workforce, provide flexibility, and ensure more predictable work patterns for our staff, while balancing the needs of the University.”