Zero-hours contracts: a UK manager’s guide (2026)

A zero-hours contract is one with no guaranteed minimum hours. The employer offers shifts as needed; the worker can usually accept or decline.

It is NOT a way to avoid employment rights. Most zero-hours staff are "workers" in the legal sense, which means they get paid holiday, the National Minimum Wage, rest breaks, protection from unlawful discrimination, and (often) auto-enrolment into a pension once earnings thresholds are hit.

Some zero-hours staff are full "employees" depending on the actual working pattern, with additional rights including unfair dismissal protection after 2 years.

Since 2015, exclusivity clauses in zero-hours contracts (telling a worker they cannot work for anyone else) are unenforceable. In 2022 the protection was extended to all low-paid workers earning below the Lower Earnings Limit.

Trying to enforce one is automatically unfair dismissal if you sack the worker for breaching it.

Zero-hours workers accrue 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year, pro-rated by the hours actually worked. Since 2024 reforms, employers can use "rolled-up holiday pay" at 12.07% of pay for irregular-hours and part-year workers — but it must be itemised on the payslip.

Holiday pay is calculated on a 52-week reference period of average earnings, including regular overtime, commission and shift premiums.

The Employment Rights Bill (going through Parliament in 2025–26) introduces a right to a contract reflecting the worker’s actual regular hours after a reference period (likely 12 weeks). Workers will be able to request guaranteed hours; employers will be able to refuse only on specified grounds.

It also introduces a right to "reasonable notice" of shifts and compensation for short-notice cancellations. The exact rules are still in secondary legislation but UK hospitality employers should plan for these changes.

Publish rotas at least 2 weeks ahead. Don’t cancel within 48 hours unless absolutely necessary, and pay something if you do.

Offer hours fairly across the team — favouritism in shift offers is a leading cause of grievances.

If a zero-hours worker is reliably doing 25–30 hours every week, offer them a guaranteed-hours contract before the law forces it. They’ll stay longer.