> according to the standard zero hour contract, both employer and employee can decline work offered/accepted, but who do you think has power in this relationship?

In my particular case, I was still eligible to unemployment subsidy, if my monthly earnings were lower than that of unemployment benefit, but it came with a condition. Even though I was allowed to decline offered work, I would forfeit my unemployment subsidy for three months each time I declined it. This of course was a condition of the unemployment office, not the company, but the company knew about it, so yes, the company indeed had power over those who needed at least the minimum living allowance.

We actually had a homeless guy working there for a while, until they found out he was homeless.