Registrars 'flummoxed' by zero-hour contract plan

Registrars said they had been left "flummoxed" and "abandoned" after a council proposed putting them on zero-hour contracts.

Suffolk County Council told the BBC it was considering altering the contractual arrangement it has with 17 of its ceremony officers.

The authority's workers, who are currently on annualised-hours contracts, undertake weddings, civil partnerships and citizenship ceremonies.

They told the BBC the change could mean they face serious "financial implications", but the council said staff would be "supported throughout the process".

Allie Mills, who is a council registrar based in Stowmarket, told the BBC the change had left her feeling "a bit flummoxed".

"I can't really see any reason why it would need to be done and they haven't put forward any financial rationale," she said.

"We could possibly have understood it if they said demand for weddings was down and they couldn't afford to have this payment.

"We're one of the few departments which is self-financing – the money comes directly from the ceremony and registration bookings."

The proposal is currently under consultation but could come into force from April if the council decides to go ahead with the change.

According to the council, 75% of its ceremony officers are already on zero-hour contracts, and the change, therefore, was to establish consistency.

It said the remaining 25% of registrars on annualised-hours contracts were usually paid a regular monthly salary, regardless of demand for their services.

Annualised-hours arrangements being "difficult to manage" and resulting in some workers being paid for work they did not do was also cited as a reason.

Mills said that, unlike longer-serving staff, many of the workers on casual contracts knew they would be on a zero-hours arrangement when they started.

She added that the move would not only potentially affect the registrars' income but would have other "financial implications", too.

"We will have no guaranteed hours and, effectively, we will be put into that category where we would not be able to get very much credit at all," she said.

"Yeah, [I am worried about my job] because, while we only average five hours a week pay, for a lot of us that is our only guaranteed income."

Paul White, who is based at Sudbury Registration Office, said the process to this point had been an "unnecessary upheaval" and registrars like him had been left in limbo.

He also described the consultation as a "sham" and said it had "made a mockery" of the values the council says it strives to uphold.

"There are lots of people who are feeling vulnerable and concerned, and there has been little recognition of the stress and anxiety caused by this," White said.

"There remains numerous questions that have not been adequately addressed and this lack of communication is unacceptable.

"It's been badly managed and it's just awful. The way they are treating us is what has got my back up – they've abandoned us."

White said he was particularly confused by the move given demand for services had not waned, and added that he could do as many as 350 ceremonies a year.

"It is therefore reasonable to ask what has fundamentally changed to justify dismantling that model now?," said White, who works 250 hours a year.

"What outcome is this change intended to achieve? Is this proposal, in reality, primarily a cost-saving exercise?"

The proposal comes less than a year after the government said it would aim to phase out zero-hour contracts - which it described as being "exploitative" - by April 2027.

A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said: "We understand some staff may be concerned.

"But we have been in close contact with staff throughout the consultation process and the union have been involved.

"Importantly, this change will not affect rates of pay or the rights and protections staff have in their roles, and we want to reassure those impacted that they will be supported throughout the process."

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