Title: Reforms to Zero Hours and Similar Contracts: Engaging Views on the Employment Rights Act 2025

We are seeking views on reforms relating to zero hours and similar contracts, to implement measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025 to end one-sided flexibility.

In recent years, the labour market has seen a surge in contracts that offer workers flexibility on one side—while leaving the other side with uncertainty. Zero hours and related arrangements have become increasingly common across sectors such as hospitality, retail, care, and logistics. While these contracts can provide employers with adaptability to match demand, they can also place workers in precarious positions, lacking predictability, guaranteed hours, and access to basic employment protections.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 reflects a clear shift in policy direction: it aims to rebalance the relationship between workers and employers, ensuring that flexibility does not come at the expense of workers’ rights and security. The draft reforms seek to address several core concerns commonly raised about zero hours contracts, including the following:

– Predictability and stability: Workers often face uncertainty regarding the number of hours they will be offered from week to week, making budgeting and planning difficult. Reforms may introduce a floor or minimum entitlement to hours, where feasible, or provide a right to a reasonable notice period for shift allocations.
– Worker rights and protections: Provisions to ensure access to sick pay, holiday entitlement, and other statutory protections should not be contingent on the existence of a guaranteed hours contract. The reforms aim to extend core rights to workers regardless of whether their hours are guaranteed.
– Good faith and transparency: Employers should be required to be clear about expectations, scheduling practices, and any changes to hours. There may be restrictions on practices such as “on-call” arrangements that effectively compel workers to remain available without guaranteed compensation.
– Fairness in scheduling: Measures could include duties on employers to consult with workers or their representatives about shift patterns, to publish schedules with sufficient lead time, and to avoid last-minute changes that disrupt other commitments.
– Conversion and progression: For workers who have long-standing patterns of working certain hours, there may be pathways to convert to more stable contracts with guaranteed hours, subject to mutual agreement and operational viability.
– Equality and non-discrimination: Reforms must ensure that flexible practices do not disproportionately affect particular groups, including women, carers, younger workers, or those with disabilities. Safeguards against indirect discrimination in scheduling and hours are essential.

A central objective of these reforms is to end one-sided flexibility. This phrase captures the concern that some employment models enable employers to adjust hours at will, while workers bear the impact of reduced income and uncertain schedules. By aligning rights and protections with actual working patterns, the reforms seek to create a more balanced and predictable workplace environment.

When shaping reform, several practical considerations deserve careful attention:

– Industry differences: Sectors with inherently fluctuating demand may require tailored approaches that preserve operational flexibility while enhancing worker security. A one-size-fits-all policy could undermine business viability in some contexts.
– Transitional arrangements: Implementing changes will necessitate phased timelines, guidance for employers, and support to transition staff towards more secure arrangements where appropriate.
– Enforcement and compliance: Effective enforcement mechanisms, clear definitions of what constitutes a worker versus an independent contractor, and accessible avenues for redress will be critical for success.
– Engagement and consultation: It is essential to involve employers, workers, trade unions, and representative bodies in consultation to capture diverse experiences and practical insights.
– International comparisons: Looking at best practices from other jurisdictions can inform design choices without duplicating issues observed elsewhere.

As policy-makers consider these reforms, the overarching aim is to create a framework where flexibility serves both the organisation and the worker, rather than creating asymmetry in the employment relationship. The proposed measures under the Employment Rights Act 2025 should promote dignity at work, financial stability, and the capacity for workers to plan their lives with greater certainty.

We invite views on a range of questions to shape this reform agenda:

– What specific changes to zero hours and similar contracts would most effectively reduce one-sided flexibility without imposing undue burdens on employers?
– How should minimum hours entitlements or enhanced scheduling rights be designed to balance fairness with operational practicality?
– What role should union representation or employee councils play in scheduling decisions and dispute resolution?
– How can reforms be tailored to protect vulnerable groups while supporting sectors that rely on flexible staffing?
– What transitional supports, guidance, and resources would help businesses and workers adapt to these reforms?

Comments from employers, workers, and other stakeholders are vital to ensure the final policy is robust, pragmatic, and respectful of both business needs and workers’ rights. We encourage submissions that offer concrete proposals, evidence from research or case studies, and clear considerations of implementation pathways.

In summarising, the direction of travel is clear: reform the way we use flexible contracts to ensure that flexibility works for everyone, not just for employers. By bringing zero hours and similar arrangements within a framework that guarantees fundamental protections and fair scheduling practices, the Employment Rights Act 2025 aims to deliver a fairer, more predictable labour market without sacrificing the agility that modern businesses require.

If you have views to share, please provide your response with a clear explanation of the impact on workers, employers, and the broader economy. Submissions should identify practical steps, potential unintended consequences, and measures to monitor progress after implementation. Your input will inform thoughtful, well-grounded policy design that stands the test of time.

June 2, 2026 at 09:30AM
让工作来支付代价：结束单方面灵活性——对零小时及类似合同的改革
我们正在征求对零小时及类似合同相关改革的意见，以在《2025年就业权利法案》中实施措施，结束单方面的灵活性。

阅读更多中文内容： 迈向更公平的劳动关系：就零小时及类似合约改革征求意见