UK Zero-Hours Contracts: Worker Rights and Restrictions 2026

Zero-hours contracts have been a flashpoint of UK employment law for over a decade. By 2026, with the Employment Rights Bill 2025 progressing through Parliament and the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 in force from 26 September 2024, the regime is markedly tighter than it was even five years ago. This deep-dive explains the worker’s bundle of rights under a zero-hours contract, the statutory restrictions on the employer, and the operational adjustments a UK private limited company (Ltd) must consider when using such arrangements.

1. What Is a Zero-Hours Contract?

There is no single statutory definition. The closest is in section 27A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), inserted by section 153 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015:

“A zero hours contract” is a contract of employment or other worker’s contract under which — (a) the undertaking to do or perform work or services is an undertaking to do so conditionally on the employer making work or services available to the worker, and (b) there is no certainty that any such work or services will be made available to the worker.

Zero-hours arrangements include both:

• Employment contracts (employees with full ERA rights)
• Worker contracts (workers with a narrower bundle: NMW, holiday, working time, anti-discrimination)

Primary source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/27A

2. The Two Tiers — Employee vs Worker

A central question is whether the zero-hours arrangement creates employee status (with the full ERA bundle including unfair dismissal, redundancy pay, statutory notice) or worker status (the narrower bundle).

The test from Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher [2011] UKSC 41 and Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5 looks at the reality of the relationship, not just the label. Factors include:

• Mutuality of obligation (must the employer offer work? must the worker accept?)
• Personal service
• Control
• Integration into the business
• Economic reality of the bargain

Many workers initially treated as zero-hours “casuals” have been re-categorised by tribunals as employees with full ERA rights.

3. Exclusivity Clauses — Banned

Section 27A(3) of the ERA 1996 makes any provision in a zero-hours contract that prohibits the worker from doing work or performing services under another contract unenforceable. This is reinforced by the Exclusivity Terms in Zero Hours Contracts (Redress) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/2021), which give workers a right not to be unfairly dismissed for breach of an exclusivity term and a right not to be subjected to a detriment.

Extended in December 2022 to all low-income workers (earnings below the lower earnings limit) by the Exclusivity Terms for Zero Hours Workers (Unenforceability and Redress) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/1132).

4. Right to Request a Predictable Working Pattern (PWPC)

The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 added sections 80IA–80IH to the ERA 1996, in force from 26 September 2024. The right:

• Applies to workers (not just employees) who have done work for the employer in at least 1 day in the period of 26 weeks before the application
• Allows the worker to request a more predictable working pattern (number of hours, days, times, length of contract)
• Employer must deal with the request “in a reasonable manner” and provide a decision within 1 month of receipt
• Employer can refuse only on specified statutory grounds (8 grounds, including burden of additional costs, detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand)
• Worker can complain to a tribunal for breach

The Acas Code of Practice on requests for predictable working pattern came into force alongside the Act.

Reference: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workers-predictable-terms-and-conditions-act-2023-explanatory-notes

5. Working Time Regulations 1998 — Holiday and Rest

Zero-hours workers retain the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) bundle:

• 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave (regulation 13 + 13A) — pro-rated for hours actually worked
• Daily rest of 11 consecutive hours (regulation 10)
• Weekly rest of 24 consecutive hours (regulation 11)
• 48-hour weekly working limit unless individually opted out (regulation 4)

For zero-hours workers, holiday pay is calculated using the 52-week reference period (regulation 16(3)), now permitted to use the rolled-up holiday pay at 12.07% of pay where the worker has irregular hours under the Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1426).

6. National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage

Under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, zero-hours workers must be paid at least:

• £12.21/hour (NLW for 21+, from April 2025; £12.45/hour from April 2026 confirmed by Low Pay Commission)
• £10.00/hour for 18–20 year olds (April 2025)
• £7.55/hour for 16–17 and apprentices

Zero-hours arrangements that pay only for “deployed time” but require “on-call” availability raise issues under regulation 32 of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/621), which deems certain on-call time as working time.

Reference: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates

7. Continuity of Employment and Section 1 Statement

A zero-hours employee still has rights to:

• Section 1 ERA written statement — from day one, even before performing any work
• Continuity of employment under sections 210–212 ERA — gaps of less than a week typically preserve continuity for unfair dismissal qualifying period (currently 2 years; reducing to “day one” under the Employment Rights Bill 2025)
• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) — under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992

A zero-hours worker receives a section 1A statement (the worker’s equivalent introduced in 2020).

8. Auto-Enrolment Pensions

Zero-hours workers are subject to auto-enrolment under the Pensions Act 2008 if they meet the eligibility criteria (age 22+, earnings ≥ £10,000 annualised). For irregular earners, employers must monitor month-by-month and enrol when threshold is crossed.

Reference: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/

9. Anti-Discrimination — Equality Act 2010

Zero-hours workers are protected by the Equality Act 2010 (s.41) covering all nine protected characteristics. Discriminatory allocation of shifts (e.g., reducing hours after pregnancy disclosure) is unlawful and gives rise to compensation including injury to feelings under Vento bands.

10. Common Mistakes — Gyoseishoshi View

11. Employment Rights Bill 2025 — What’s Coming

The Employment Rights Bill 2025 (introduced October 2024) proposes:

• Right to guaranteed-hours contract for workers regularly working over a certain number of hours during a reference period
• Reasonable notice of shifts and compensation for cancelled shifts
• Day-one unfair dismissal rights (replacing the current 2-year qualifying period)
• Strengthened sick pay from day one (no more 3-day waiting period)

Most provisions will be brought into force by regulations through 2026 and 2027.

Reference: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-employment-rights-bill-roadmap-for-implementation

12. Operational Recommendations for UK Ltds

1. Audit your zero-hours arrangements — are they genuinely zero-hours, or have they evolved into regular patterns?
2. Issue section 1/1A statements from day one
3. Track hours and earnings for NMW compliance and PWPC eligibility windows
4. Build a process for PWPC requests — appoint a decision-maker, log decisions, observe the 1-month timeline
5. Review exclusivity language in templates — remove
6. Plan for guaranteed-hours obligations under the 2025 Bill

Conclusion — Flexibility Costs More Than It Used To

Zero-hours contracts retain a place in the UK labour market, particularly in hospitality, retail, and care. But the legal architecture around them — exclusivity ban, PWPC right, NMW reach into on-call time, holiday pay reform, and the 2025 Bill — has tightened significantly. The “casual” worker of 2015 is the “worker with growing statutory entitlements” of 2026.

A Gyoseishoshi cannot represent UK workers or employers in employment tribunals. Scrib🐮 produces the contract architecture: compliant zero-hours templates, PWPC response frameworks, and section 1 statements that satisfy the 2026 regime.

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Disclaimer

Legal information, not legal advice. MmowW Scrib🐮 is operated by a licensed Gyoseishoshi (行政書士) office in Japan. We are not UK solicitors.

Sources

• Employment Rights Act 1996: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents
• Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workers-predictable-terms-and-conditions-act-2023-explanatory-notes
• National Minimum Wage rates: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates
• Employment Rights Bill roadmap: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-employment-rights-bill-roadmap-for-implementation