Zero-Hours Contract Rights and the 2025 Reforms

A zero-hours contract does not guarantee any minimum hours of work, but that does not strip away your rights. Most zero-hours staff are legally "workers", and the Employment Rights Act 2025 is phasing in a new right to guaranteed hours (gov.uk).

What a zero-hours contract actually means

A zero-hours contract is an arrangement where the employer is not obliged to offer any minimum number of hours, and the individual is not obliged to accept work when it is offered. Pay is only for hours actually worked. This flexibility suits some casual or on-call roles, but it means income can vary week to week with no guaranteed floor.

Not offering a minimum number of hours is lawful. What is not lawful is treating a zero-hours arrangement as a way to strip away the statutory protections that come with worker or employee status.

Are you a "worker" or an "employee" on a zero-hours contract

Most people on zero-hours contracts have "worker" status, which is the middle category between genuinely self-employed and employee. Some, depending on how much control the employer exercises and the reality of the working relationship, are employees. Status is decided by the actual working relationship, not by what the contract is labelled. Worker status alone is enough to trigger the core rights below; a smaller set of rights (including unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy pay) additionally require employee status and, in most cases, a qualifying period of service.

Rights you keep on a zero-hours contract

Even without guaranteed hours, zero-hours workers retain the same baseline protections as other workers and employees (gov.uk; ACAS):

• National Minimum Wage for every hour actually worked
• 5.6 weeks' statutory paid holiday a year, accruing at 12.07% of hours worked for those with irregular hours
• Statutory rest breaks, including a break during a long shift and minimum daily and weekly rest
• Protection from unlawful discrimination on the basis of a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010
• Protection from detriment for whistleblowing, where a protected disclosure is made
• Health and safety protection, on the same basis as other staff

Exclusivity clauses are unenforceable

Some zero-hours contracts try to stop the individual working for another employer or "looking for work" elsewhere, sometimes called an exclusivity clause. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended, any such clause in a zero-hours contract is unenforceable. A worker can accept work from another employer regardless of what the contract says, and cannot lawfully be penalised for doing so (gov.uk).

The Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a package of zero-hours reforms aimed at reducing one-sided flexibility. These provisions are phasing in through 2026 and 2027, with exact commencement dates still being confirmed by regulations, so treat timing as indicative rather than fixed (legislation.gov.uk).

• Right to guaranteed hours. Qualifying workers who regularly work a pattern of hours over a reference period gain the right to be offered a contract that reflects those hours, rather than remaining on zero hours indefinitely.
• Reasonable notice of shifts. Employers must give reasonable notice of the hours, days and times a worker is expected to work; notice given too close to the shift is presumed unreasonable.
• Payment for short-notice cancellation. Where a shift is cancelled, moved, or cut short at short notice, the worker becomes entitled to a payment.
• Ban on exploitative zero-hours arrangements. The Act targets zero-hours use that is designed to avoid guaranteed-hours and notice obligations rather than reflect genuine, irregular demand.

These rights sit alongside the ones zero-hours workers already have; they do not replace them, and none of the existing minimum wage, holiday, rest-break, discrimination, or whistleblowing protections are affected by the phase-in timetable.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has separate employment legislation with broadly equivalent substance. Claims are heard by the Industrial Tribunal (and, for discrimination cases, the Fair Employment Tribunal), not the Employment Tribunal, and the enforcement and conciliation body is the Labour Relations Agency (LRA), not ACAS. The Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms, including guaranteed hours, are GB legislation; Northern Ireland may legislate separately on zero-hours contracts, and any NI equivalent should be checked directly with the LRA or nidirect rather than assumed to mirror GB on the same timetable.

FAQ

This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Zero-hours contract terms vary, and the Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms are still being phased in with commencement dates subject to confirmation. For advice on a specific situation, contact ACAS or a solicitor.

See also the UK Employment Law hub for the full cluster, the United Kingdom hub for other UK legal topics, holiday entitlement for how the 5.6 weeks and 12.07% accrual work in detail, workplace discrimination for Equality Act 2010 protections, and flexible working requests for the day-one right to request a different working pattern.