Summarise with AI
What rights do zero-hours workers have?
The common misconception is that a zero-hours contract means few rights. It does not. The absence of guaranteed hours affects how much work is offered — it does not reduce entitlements for the hours actually worked:
- National Minimum Wage for every hour worked, including handovers, security checks and travel between sites
- Paid holiday, accruing at 12.07% of hours worked for irregular-hours workers
- Rest breaks — 20 minutes on a shift over six hours, 11 hours between working days
- Protection from discrimination and from unlawful deductions from wages
Exclusivity clauses are unenforceable
A clause preventing a zero-hours worker from working for anyone else cannot be enforced. The logic is straightforward: if you guarantee no hours, you cannot also prevent someone earning elsewhere. Clauses of this kind still appear in old contract templates — they have no effect.
What changes in 2027
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a right for zero-hours and low-hours workers to be offered guaranteed hours reflecting the hours they actually work over a reference period, if they want them. Alongside it come a right to reasonable notice of shifts and a payment where a shift is cancelled, moved or cut short at short notice. All are expected in 2027 and remain subject to consultation.
The target is not genuine flexibility that suits both sides — it is someone working settled full-time hours on a contract that promises nothing. The practical preparation is knowing how many hours your zero-hours staff actually work over a reference period, which most employers currently cannot produce. Our guide to the shift-related changes covers what to measure now. Two guides cover the day-to-day consequences: changing a rota and handling holiday requests.
