The move followed a trial where four out of five workers said they preferred a contract that would secure them a minimum number of hours each week. The decision will affect 24,000 staff at the pub chain.
Martin told sister title MCA that the trial was so popular, it will be rolled out nationwide: “We decided to do a trial, which started six months ago in certain areas of the company. It was big enough to get a good idea of what the take-up has been.
“It used to be called ‘hourly pay’, and we’ve probably all done hourly pay. That was just the way things were.
“Then someone came up with the term ‘zero-hours’ on it and everyone realised ‘oh yeah, there is no guarantee hours’.
“We’ve already offered guaranteed hours contracts to a percentage of our workforce and they’ll all be offered one in the next three months.
“In spite of me saying there’s no advantage with them, we’ve had quite a good take up of 70% to 80%.”
It was also reported that Martin said around two-thirds of staff on zero-hours contracts opted to move on to the fixed option instead. The number of guaranteed hours is approximately 70% of the typical number of hours they can work every week, so workers will know the minimum amount they will take home.
Trade Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Frances O’Grady welcomed the JDW changes and according to BuzzFeed said: “Guaranteeing staff minimum hours is much better than leaving them unsure about how much they will have from one day to the next.
“We hope that other employers follow suit. The success of the Wetherspoon trial proves that businesses can be successful without zero-hours contracts.”