The Government has launched a consultation on the measures that are due to be implemented via the Employment Rights Act 2025 to reform zero hours contracts and end what the Government calls “one-sided flexibility”. We look at what the Government’s plans are for reforms in this area and how this will impact employers.
Consultation on zero hours contracts
The consultation seeks input on the following new rights, which will be set out in regulations:
- a right to guaranteed hours, where the number of hours offered reflects the hours worked by a qualifying worker during a reference period
- a right to reasonable notice of shifts and changes to these
- a right to payment for shifts cancelled, curtailed or moved at short notice.
The consultation is open until 11.59pm on 25 August 2026. The Government will consider the feedback to the consultation before publishing its response and making regulations in due course. The changes are expected to be implemented during 2027.
Right to guaranteed hours
The consultation seeks views on the qualifying criteria for this right — the “hours threshold”. This is the number of hours, calculated over a defined reference period, under which workers will be within the scope of the new right to guaranteed hours, subject to meeting other qualifying conditions. The Government’s preference for the threshold is between 8–20 hours per week. For the reference period, it prefers an initial 12-week period, with the possibility of subsequent reference periods which may differ in length.
Another element of the right to guaranteed hours is how often a worker needs to work for the employer to be entitled to a guaranteed hours offer. The consultation offers two options for this:
- a weekly distribution requirement of the hours worked (i.e. X calendar weeks across a 12-week initial reference period)
- a weekly distribution requirement of the hours worked and a total-hours requirement, i.e. a minimum number of hours in excess of the worker’s total contracted hours.
Right to reasonable notice of shifts
The Government proposes that the right to reasonable notice and payment for shifts cancelled, curtailed or moved at short notice should only apply to people with up to, and including, a certain number of hours guaranteed in their contract. Views are sought on the level of the threshold — the consultation suggests somewhere between 8–48 hours.
If an employer schedules shifts with unreasonable notice, the worker will be able to bring a tribunal claim. Regulations will set out a timeframe that is presumed to be reasonable notice of the shift or change to a shift. The timeframe that is presumed reasonable will be the starting point for workers, employers and tribunals when considering what notice is needed. A period of between one and four weeks is suggested, although there is flexibility for respondents to suggest something different.
Exemptions to the requirement may also be introduced. The consultation asks for views on who should not be required to provide reasonable notice of a shift or a shift change.
Right to payment for shifts cancelled, curtailed or moved at short notice
Consideration is being given to two types of short notice, which includes a short notice payment and a very short notice payment; the latter would be a higher amount. Views on the length of the short notice period are sought, with suggestions of one–seven days, with flexibility to suggest something different.
In relation to the amount of the short notice payment, two options are offered:
- a percentage of what the worker would have earned from working the shift or the relevant hours in cases where the shift was moved or curtailed
- a percentage of what the worker would have earned from working the shift or the relevant hours at the National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage rate.
Enforcement
Finally, the consultation asks about the penalty amount where short notice payments are not made and whether the Fair Work Agency (FWA) should enforce certain zero hours measures and, if so, how. The Government’s preferred option is 50% of arrears owed to the worker, £100 minimum per case and £5000 maximum per worker.
