Part Time job contract full time hours

Can anyone shed any light on a company ( retail store ) which only offer part time contracts for all staff except probably management. My daughter went for a job interview and was informed of this arrangement whereby the hours are made up by working overtime when the store is busy or covering for sickness etc.Is this the norm in retail work as I would have thought it would be difficult for someone to plan their life around part time wages. It would mean difficulty in getting loans or a mortgage. What is the logic behind this? does it mean if the store is going through a slow period then staff only have their contracted hours, but have to be flexible as well to accommodate the busy periods.

This wouldn't happen to be a large department & grocery store chain with a name beginning with D would it? There was a recent article in my local paper about this and it appears that this sort of contract is quite common.

Mo3art, no, it wasn't the one starting with D, are they at it too? But it wasn't a hundred miles away from it either but they dont sell food.Where would be the point in someone taking a job if it's only part time and they are able to do full time hours, get paid less than nine euros an hour,and have to then be available if and when required to fill in for sickness and busy periods.Everything is stacked against the worker. I did suggest to my daughter that if she did take the job, and when her part time shift was over, to head out the door, change the uniform, and walk into the store starting with a T next door. I wonder how well that would go down?

It's the same with UK chain store clothing companies :-(