- Boston
01205 351114 - Bourne
01778 218001 - Grantham
01476 591550 - Horncastle
01507 522456 - Lincoln
01522 541181 - London
02078 715755 - Newark
01636 673731 - Sleaford
01529 411500 - Spalding
01775 725664 - Stamford
01780 764145
Zero-Hour workers reach a record high
'Zero-Hour workers reach a record high ahead of crackdown' the BBC tells us.
The number of zero-hour workers in December 2025 was 1.23 million, which might be partly due to seasonal work in retail and hospitality. The 'crackdown' that the government has indicated is coming is likely to significantly impact on the use of 'zero-hour' labour (where people can be called into work as and when it suits the employer), but as things stand it is due to come into force in 2027, with no date yet fixed, it may well be around 6th April 2027 that the changes come into effect.
The main changes that will come in will be:
- A right for a zero-hours and low-hours workers to be offered 'guaranteed hours' that reflect the hours regularly worked. This will require employers to keep detailed records of hours offered to workers and to ensure that when they reach the threshold, they are made an offer of guaranteed hours. However, the employer can also make other offers as well, e.g. a full-time or part-time contract, as long as they make a guaranteed-hours offer.
- Rights for zero-hour and low-hour workers to have reasonable notice of shifts and to get compensation for shifts being cancelled, shortened or moved.
The new rights have complicated anti-avoidance provisions, for example a worker can bring a claim if an employer:
- Fails to make a guaranteed-hours offer.
- Makes a guaranteed-hours but it doesn't meet the technical requirements of the regulations.
- Dismisses a worker to avoid having to make a guaranteed-hours offer.
- Reduces hours to avoid having to make a guaranteed-hours.
It is not yet clear how these rights will work as the fine detail of how the rights work has yet to be decided upon, as the government is now working out how to make the regulations (lots of them) to bring the whole scheme into effect, including setting what is reasonable notice of a shift change, how long it is before a guaranteed-hours offer has to be made, what exceptions there are to the various rules. The overall plan is to 'Make Work Pay' so it is looking for a balance between workers being certain to have a minimum income and employers being able to manage the rules. One national retailer noted that it would have to spend millions of pounds to develop IT systems simply to keep track of zero-hour worker shifts.
The right to 'guaranteed hours' is likely to be problematic for employers with seasonal fluctuations (e.g. hospitality in summer, and running up to Christmas) and retail in the run up to Christmas, as it is possible that guaranteed hours will be based on a reference period, which could be 12 weeks, meaning that a retailer with a busy run up to Christmas could be required to offer similar levels of work from January to March to a zero-hour worker taken on in October for a Christmas rush. On the other hand, some zero-hour workers, e.g. students, might not find that it suits them to work fixed hours once they have accepted a guaranteed-hours offer.
At Chattertons, we will be keeping track of the consultations and the draft regulations as they come out to make sure that our clients will be fully informed of the requirements of the new rights.
CONTACT US
If you are an employer, or employee who needs guidance, we are here to help. Please do not hesitate to contact our Employment Law Team or make an enquiry here.