Free zero-hours rota template (Excel)
Offered, accepted, declined, worked — four different things a zero-hours rota has to keep apart. This one does, and totals the hours each person actually works over a 12-week window.
Zero-hours rota
Excel format (.xlsx) • Ready to download
No signup required. Works with Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice.
This rota template is a planning tool, not legal or payroll advice. It does not check working time limits, rest breaks or minimum wage for you. Check GOV.UK, or take advice, before relying on a rota for compliance. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
Build this rota online instead
The spreadsheet works until you are chasing availability and recalculating hours by hand. Build and share the same rota in the browser — free, no signup.
What's in this template
A rota that records what was offered, not just what was worked
Offer and response status
Offered, accepted, declined or cancelled against each shift. A declined shift is not a no-show, and the rota should be able to say which.
A rolling 12-week hours total
Hours actually worked per person over a reference window — the figure the guaranteed-hours right will turn on.
12.07% holiday accrual
Accrued hours calculated from hours worked, which is how leave accrues for irregular-hours workers.
A cancellation log
Shifts cancelled, moved or cut short, with how much notice was given. Worth recording now for reasons set out below.
A worker pool list
Availability and skills per person, so you are offering shifts to people who can actually take them.
The shared legend
The same shift codes as every other template on this shelf.
Offered is not the same as worked
Four statuses, kept apart. A rota that only records who worked cannot tell you how often somebody was asked and said no — which is the difference between a worker who wants more hours and one who does not.
| Worker | Shift | Status | Hours | 12-week total | Accrued (12.07%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zainab Ahmed | Fri 18:00–23:00 | Worked | 5.0 | 186.0 | 22.4 |
| Ewan Fraser | Sat 12:00–18:00 | Declined | 0.0 | 41.5 | 5.0 |
| Grace Bennett | Sun 10:00–16:00 | Cancelled <48h | 0.0 | 77.0 | 9.3 |
Zainab has worked 186 hours in 12 weeks — an average of 15.5 a week, on a contract that guarantees none. That pattern is exactly what the guaranteed-hours right is aimed at, and the highlighted cancellation is the kind of event that is expected to attract a payment.
How to run a zero-hours rota
Four steps that keep the record defensible
1. Keep a pool list
Names, availability and skills. Offering shifts to people who cannot take them looks like offering hours and achieves nothing.
2. Log the offer, not just the outcome
Record every shift offered and the response. Without it you cannot show a worker was offered hours and declined them.
3. Total hours over a rolling window
Twelve weeks per person. This is the number that shows whether a zero-hours contract has quietly become a part-time job.
4. Log cancellations with notice given
How much notice, and whether the shift was cancelled, moved or cut short. Start now; the record is easier to build than to reconstruct.
Zero-hours contracts are lawful in the UK and remain so. What is changing is the record-keeping around them — see the FAQ below.
Who uses this template
UK employers with a flexible worker pool
Hospitality
The sector where zero-hours is most common and where the hours pattern is most likely to look like regular work.
Events and venues
Large pools worked occasionally, where the offer record matters more than the rota.
Education and invigilation
Term-time and exam-period work, which is part-year rather than irregular — a distinction that changes how holiday accrues.
Working out leave for these workers? Use the holiday entitlement calculator, which handles irregular-hours and part-year accrual.
Or offer shifts and record the answer in one step
The hard part of a zero-hours rota is not the grid, it is the messaging round it. RosterElf sends the offer, records who accepted, and keeps the hours total per person without anyone retyping it.
Zero-hours rights and reform
What applies now, and what is coming
Employment Rights Act shift rights
Guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts and short-notice cancellation payments.
Read the guidePart-time holiday entitlement
Pro-rata leave, and the 12.07% accrual for irregular-hours and part-year workers.
Read the guideRota laws in the UK
The 48-hour average, the 11-hour daily rest, and what a rota can and cannot require.
Read the guideDefinitions worth having
Terms that come up on a zero-hours rota
Zero-hours contract
Lawful in the UK, exclusivity clauses are not — and what changes in 2027.
See the definitionRolled-up holiday pay
The 12.07% uplift, and which workers it is now lawful for.
See the definitionReference period
The rolling window the 48-hour average and holiday pay are measured across.
See the definitionZero-hours rota FAQ
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Yes. They are lawful and remain so under the Employment Rights Act 2025, which does not ban them. What the Act adds is a right for eligible workers to be offered guaranteed hours reflecting the hours they actually work over a reference period — an offer they can decline. See our zero-hours contract definition.
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A right to be offered guaranteed hours, a right to reasonable notice of shifts, and a payment where a shift is cancelled, moved or cut short at short notice. All three are expected in 2027 and remain subject to consultation, so the thresholds and timing can still move. Our Employment Rights Act shift rights guide tracks it.
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Because the right, when it arrives, will be measured against a reference period — and a reference period is retrospective. An employer who starts recording only when the rules commence has no history to reason about. It is also simply useful management information: a pattern of late cancellations is worth seeing whether or not it becomes payable.
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No. Exclusivity clauses in zero-hours contracts have been unenforceable since 2015. A worker with no guaranteed hours is free to work elsewhere, and the 48-hour weekly average counts hours across all their employers — which is why the pool list is worth keeping honest.
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They are entitled to statutory holiday like anyone else. For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers accrue at 12.07% of the hours actually worked, which is the column in this template. Rolled-up holiday pay is lawful for these workers — see rolled-up holiday pay.
Before you download
General information only — not legal advice
This document is a general HR template provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and may not reflect the latest changes in legislation or apply to every workplace situation. RosterElf Pty Ltd and the template provider accept no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this document. Users should seek independent legal advice and customise the template to ensure it complies with all relevant laws and workplace requirements.