Zero Hours Contracts

Zero Hours Contracts

A zero-hours contract is an arrangement under which an employer or other organisation does not guarantee a minimum amount of work.

Work may be offered when it is available, but the individual's legal rights depend on the contract, their employment status and how the working relationship operates in practice.

Are Zero-Hours Contracts Legal?

Zero-hours contracts remain lawful. However, employers must still comply with employment law concerning pay, holiday entitlement, working time, discrimination, health and safety and protection from unlawful deductions.

The description used in the written agreement is not conclusive. A person described as self-employed may legally be a worker or employee if that reflects the actual arrangements.

Employment Status

A person engaged under a zero-hours arrangement may be:

• An employee;


• A worker; or


• Genuinely self-employed.

Workers generally have rights including:

• The National Minimum Wage;


• Paid annual leave;


• Rest breaks;


• Protection against unlawful deductions from wages;


• Protection from discrimination; and


• Protection for whistleblowing.

Employees may have additional rights, including statutory notice, family-related leave, redundancy pay and protection from unfair dismissal, subject to the relevant legal requirements.

National Minimum Wage

A zero-hours worker must receive at least the applicable National Minimum Wage for all hours that legally count as working time.

Depending on the circumstances, working time may include:

• Required training;


• Travel between work assignments;


• Time spent waiting at a place specified by the employer; and


• Other time during which the worker is required to remain available for work.

Holiday Entitlement

Zero-hours workers are entitled to paid annual leave. Entitlement will normally be calculated based on the hours worked and the applicable holiday pay rules.

Holiday pay should be shown clearly. An employer should not simply include an unidentified amount within the hourly rate and claim that no further holiday pay is due.

Exclusivity Clauses

An employer cannot generally prevent a zero-hours worker from accepting work from another organisation.

A contractual term that prohibits other employment is usually unenforceable. Workers are also protected against detrimental treatment or dismissal for taking work elsewhere.

Similar protection may apply to some workers whose guaranteed weekly income is at or below the statutory threshold.

Accepting and Refusing Shifts

Whether a person can refuse an offered shift depends on the contract and the reality of the relationship.

A genuine zero-hours arrangement will often allow the organisation to offer work without requiring the individual to accept every shift.

Where the employer expects all work to be accepted, disciplines a person for refusing shifts or provides a regular continuing pattern of work, this may indicate that the arrangement is not genuinely casual.

Guaranteed-Hours Reforms

The Employment Rights Act 2025 provides for new rights for qualifying zero-hours and low-hours workers.

The proposed rights include:

• A right to be offered guaranteed hours reflecting the hours regularly worked during a reference period;


• A right to reasonable notice of shifts;


• A right to reasonable notice where a shift is changed or cancelled; and


• A right to payment where a shift is cancelled, curtailed or moved at short notice.

These provisions are not yet generally in force. Further regulations will determine important details, including who qualifies, the length of the reference period, what constitutes reasonable notice, applicable exceptions, and how compensation will be calculated.

The guaranteed-hours and shift-notice rights should not therefore be described as rights that workers can already enforce.

Agency Workers

The reforms are also intended to provide corresponding protection for qualifying agency workers.

The responsibilities of the employment agency and the end hirer will depend on the regulations and the particular working arrangement.

Ending a Zero-Hours Arrangement

An organisation may stop offering work, but this can still give rise to legal claims.

Depending on thperson's’s status and length of service, possible issues may include:

• Failure to give notice;


• Unfair dismissal;


• Redundancy;


• Discrimination;


• Unpaid wages;


• Holiday pay; or


• Detrimental treatment for asserting a statutory right.

Removing shifts because someone complained about their pay, reported wrongdoing, undertook trade union activity or exercised another protected right may be unlawful.

Challenging Employment Status

A person who believes their employment status or pay is incorrect should retain:

• The written contract;


• Work rotas;


• Payslips;


• Messages offering or cancelling shifts;


• Records of hours worked; and


• Evidence showing the degree of control exercised by the organisation.

Employment Tribunal claims are subject to strict time limits. Acas Early Conciliation will normally be required before a claim can be issued.

Solicitors.com is not a firm of solicitors. This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. You should seek advice from a suitably qualified solicitor about your individual circumstances.