Department store chain House of Fraser is understood to have put staff into consultation over a switch to zero-hours contracts in a decision that could potentially affect thousands of roles.

Retail Week understands that House of Fraser, which is owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, formerly Sports Direct, intends to offer all store staff below management level zero-hours contracts in place of their existing contracts.

A staff member, speaking under condition of anonymity, told Retail Week that the consultancy process begun yesterday and that staff who don’t accept the new contract terms face being made redundant on the most basic terms – no matter what the length of their service with the retailer.

The source also expressed concern that the zero-hours contracts would mean store staff faced the prospect of losing holiday pay and sick pay, as well as financial security in difficult times.

It is believed that Frasers Group sees the contracts it inherited when it took over the failed department store group in 2018 as outdated and inflexible.

At the time of publication, Frasers Group had not responded to multiple requests for comment. 

Since House of Fraser collapsed and was taken over by Ashley, 14 of 59 stores have been permanently closed and thousands of jobs lost.

The initiative comes after another Frasers Group-owned retailer, Evans Cycles, slashed 300 jobs and moved all remaining staff over to zero-hours contracts as part of cost-cutting measures in March this year.

In the case of Evans Cycles, management were moved to 45-hour contracts in place of 40-hour ones, while all other staff entered what Frasers dubbed “casual workers agreements”.

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