Enamur Chowdhury is used to working for the minimum wage. But he’s not used to being permanently on call without specified working hours. It’s the latest trend in the restaurant industry, he says, in which he has worked for 12 years.
“You don’t get offered a full-time contract any more,” says the father of two. “A lot of the jobs are zero-hour contracts: you have a job, but you are on call. There’s no security with it.”
The mental toll of worrying about how to pay the rent or unexpectedly large utility bills can be draining. Last year an electricity bill of more than €900 arrived. Chowdhury had been keeping the house warm for his newborn son. It took months to eventually pay it.
