Zero Hours Contract: Your Rights and What to Check Before Signing

Zero hours contract: your rights and what to check before signing

Zero hours contracts — sometimes called casual worker agreements — allow employers to offer work without guaranteeing any minimum number of hours. They are legal in the UK and used across a range of sectors, from hospitality and retail to healthcare and education.

If you have been offered a zero hours contract, understanding what it means for your rights is essential before you sign.

What a zero hours contract actually means

Under a zero hours contract, your employer is not obliged to offer you any work, and you are typically not obliged to accept work when offered. This flexibility works in both directions — though in practice, workers often feel implicit pressure to accept shifts to avoid being passed over in future.

The key distinction is your employment status. Zero hours workers may be employees, workers, or self-employed contractors, and your rights depend significantly on which category applies. Most zero hours contracts create worker status rather than employee status.

Rights you have as a zero hours worker

Even on a zero hours contract, you have legal rights that cannot be contracted away.

National Minimum Wage applies for all hours worked. Check that the contract specifies the correct rate and does not attempt to average hours in a way that reduces your effective hourly rate below the minimum.

Holiday entitlement accrues from the first day. Zero hours workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year, calculated on the basis of hours actually worked. Some employers pay rolled-up holiday pay — an additional percentage on top of your hourly rate — rather than giving actual holiday. This practice is now discouraged by ACAS and may be unlawful.

Protection from discrimination applies regardless of employment status. You cannot be treated less favourably on grounds of age, sex, race, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics.

Protection from detriment for asserting your rights — refusing to sign an exclusivity clause, for example — applies to zero hours workers.

Exclusivity clauses

Until 2015, some zero hours contracts included exclusivity clauses preventing workers from working for other employers. These clauses are now unenforceable under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015. If your contract includes such a clause, it cannot be enforced against you.

What to check in your contract

Check what notice you are required to give and receive. Many zero hours contracts specify that either party can end the arrangement immediately, but check whether there is any notice period.

Check how pay is calculated for partial shifts, what happens if a shift is cancelled at short notice, and whether any expenses are reimbursable.

Check whether the contract describes you as self-employed, which would mean you are responsible for your own tax and National Insurance and would have fewer rights than a worker or employee.

Getting your zero hours contract reviewed

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