Reform of zero hours contracts

Implementation date: Expected 2027

The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions to reform rules on the use of zero hours contracts.

Under the Bill, workers on zero hours contracts, or contracts providing for a low number of guaranteed hours, will have the right to

• guaranteed hours if they work regular hours over a defined period; 
• reasonable notice of a shift;
• reasonable notice of cancellation of, or change to, a shift; and 
• payment for cancelled, moved or shortened shifts at short notice.

Compensation will be payable only where a worker reasonably believes they would be needed for the shift in question, so they may need to demonstrate why they believed they would be required to work.

Employers will have the ability to enter into a collective agreement with an independent trade union that excludes or modifies these rights, provided that the terms of the agreement are incorporated into the worker's contract.

To avoid the potential loophole of agency work being used to avoid these measures, the rights will extend to agency workers. The Bill includes a framework for the application of the zero hours contract measures to agency workers.

Separate regulations will set out further detail and procedural requirements.

The Government has confirmed, in Implementing the Employment Rights Bill: Our roadmap for delivering change, that these measures will take effect in 2027.