12/06/2026

On 2 June 2026, In Great Britain the Government launched a Consultation on how it will implement new rules for zero hours and low hours contracts under the Employment Rights Act 2025. The Consultation is open until 25 August 2026.

What is changing?

Three new core rights are being proposed:

1. Right to guaranteed hours

Workers on zero hours or low hours contracts may be entitled to a contract that reflects what they work. This applies where they regularly work more hours over a defined reference period (likely to be 12 weeks). Workers can either accept the new guaranteed hours or stay on their existing arrangement. This creates an obligation to assess working patterns and potentially offer new contracts

2. Right to reasonable notice of shifts

Workers must be given reasonable notice of changes to shifts. The exact definition of “reasonable” is still being consulted on, but suggested ranges include:

• 1–4 weeks for direct workers
• Shorter periods being considered for agency workers

If notice is too short, workers may be able to bring a tribunal claim

3. Right to compensation for short notice changes

Workers will be entitled to a payment if shifts are: cancelled; shortened or moved at short notice. “Short notice” could be anything between 1 and 7 days with payment will likely be a percentage of expected earnings. However, there will be no payment where the worker caused the change and/or the shift was voluntarily swapped.

Who will qualify?

Workers may qualify if:

• They are on zero hours contracts, or
• Their guaranteed hours fall below a set threshold.

The Government is proposing a threshold between: 8 – 20 hours per week. This is one of the most important areas for employer input during the consultation. In relation the reference period, the Government’s preferred option is 12 weeks but it is also considering 26 weeks or 52 weeks. The consultation also asks how these periods will repeat, which will directly impact record‑keeping burdens

What counts as “regular” work?

Two approaches are being considered:

Option A: Worker must work a minimum number of weeks (e.g. 8 out of 12)

Option B: Must meet the above AND work a minimum number of excess hours.

Seasonal and temporary work

Employers may not need to offer guaranteed hours where work is genuinely temporary. Accepted reasons include: for a specific task, temporary event; and/or temporary demand. However, the Government recognises this may not fully cover seasonal work and is seeking views.

Agency workers

Agency workers are included in this proposal and typically, the hirer would be responsible for guaranteed hours. However, responsibility could shift to agencies in some scenarios.

Enforcement and penalties

• Most rights will be enforced via employment tribunals
• Short notice payments may also be enforced by the Fair Work Agency

Proposed penalty: is 50% of arrears with a minimum of £100 and maximum £5,000 per worker.

The position in Northern Ireland

The position in Northern Ireland remains separate given devolved employment law.

The Good Jobs Bill is currently in the Executive and at this stage due to concerns with trade union access, there is no consent at Executive level which is required to allow it to proceed to be debated in the Assembly.

Within the Bill, proposals on zero hours contracts are expected to align more closely with the Republic of Ireland model, introducing banded hours arrangements, rather than the GB model.

This is a significantly different approach to that being proposed in Great Britain.

Furthermore, in Northern Ireland the proposals currently only extend to employees.

However, the Way Forward document suggests this could be extended to agency workers and those on low hours contracts. Additionally Northern Ireland is proposing a longer reference period of 26 weeks, and it would operate as a right to request banded hours not a right to offer.