EUSA Fringe employees on zero hour contracts left with no shifts

An investigation carried out by The Student has found that a number of EUSA Fringe employees on zero hour contracts have been left with no shifts and no expected pay.  

One EUSA Fringe employee left with no hours told The Student: “The statement of terms and conditions for employees states that EUSA anticipate being able to offer all staff up to 40 hours per week.

“This does not hold true for staff on the flex team”. 

This year EUSA’s flex team consists of staff not assigned to a specific venue that do not receive full rota information but act as a pool of employees to fill gaps. 

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The unnamed source further said that: “The flex team is ‘alerted’ to available shifts by the ‘StaffSavvy™ application’ at short notice. 

“There is no indication that the shift alerts are exclusively for those on the flex team, and other staff wishing to pick up more hours can take the shifts. 

“In the first week of Fringe there has been a total of three alerts; with a maximum of ten shifts available for those on the flex team, far short of the 40 hours of work and pay a week that employees were told to expect”. 

Another EUSA employee confirmed to The Student that a number of other flex team members had been left with zero hours. 

Speaking to The Student, they said: “I spoke to five people at the training session who didn’t have shifts and anecdotally I have heard it’s closer to around 20-30 people.

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“EUSA seem to have massively overhired for the positions which meant lots of people weren’t allocated shifts at all.

“This seems to be a particular problem within venue operations and bar staff split between the three venues: The Pleasance Courtyard, Potterrow Dome and Teviot, when it became clear that they had overhired they put them into the ‘flex team’ to act as cover staff. 

“The problem is it’s only a four week contract and so I personally have not encountered anyone on my shifts that is on the flex team.

“Though speaking in a personal capacity the team leader during our training suggested to someone on the flex team to look for another job.

“EUSA said they anticipated being able to offer us full time employment for the duration of the festival- this was highlighted in bold in the contract. 

“It is disappointing, I don’t’ live in Edinburgh normally and have travelled up at expense to stay for the duration of the festival in the knowledge that I would be working for them, if I had come up and not had any shifts I would be livid- I know this is the situation for some people”. 

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In a copy of a EUSA Fringe employee contract obtained by The Student, EUSA does indicate that: “Due to the nature of Festival operations we would anticipate being able to offer all staff up to 40 hours per week”.

The contract does, however state that, given the nature of a zero hours contract: “The Students’ Association has no obligation to offer you work at any time and you will not be entitled to a minimum number of hours per day or week. 

“Where the Students’ Association offers you work, it does not give rise to the presumption that it will offer you any further work, nor are you obligated to accept any work offered”.

EUSA has in the past been criticised for its use of zero hours contracts for its staff, particularly given its vocal criticism of the University of Edinburgh’s use of zero hours contracts which it campaigned against in 2013. 

In 2019 the Edinburgh Evening News reported EUSA had been advertising several positions under zero hour conditions and was accused of double standards and hypocrisy by campaigners. 

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When contacted for comment, EUSA told The Student: 

“We are sorry to hear that some staff hired for the Fringe period have not been able to work the hours they were hoping for with us.   Work at the Fringe is not fully predictable, and rotas are managed to meet the expected business levels (largely based on show sales and the weather).  This is a key reason for the flexibility in contracts. 

“We have added more shifts onto our rotas as the Fringe progresses, and available rotas and shifts will continue to flex over the remaining period. 

“Our staff employed on zero-hour contracts are allowed to obtain alternative employment. This does not affect their contractual agreement with the Association. Many staff already work elsewhere, including with other Fringe operators.  

“The Students’ Association has previously criticised the use of zero hours contracts due to certain organisations offering contracts with unfair and unequal terms – this was, however, never the case for those offered by the Association.  

“We regularly conduct student feedback surveys, and the majority of students tell us they prefer zero hours contracts for a range of reasons including the flexibility they offer alongside studying, caring responsibilities, socialising and travelling”.

“teviot row house” by Jon Vrushi is licensed under CC BY 2.0.