Guide to:
Zero-hour contracts and insecure work
The Employment Rights Act introduces new protections for workers on zero-hours, low-hours and some agency contracts. The Act also strengthens safeguards against employers avoiding rights by wrongly classifying workers as self-employed, with enforcement support from the Fair Work Agency. For union reps, this means helping members understand their rights, challenging insecure working practices and ensuring employers implement the changes fairly.
Explore the guidance below to find out more about what these changes mean for you.
If you’re not already a union member, you can use our Union Finder tool to find out which one would be the best fit.
We also have a useful toolkit to guide you through the key reforms - Employment Rights Act toolkit.
Common
questions
questions
What changes will the Act make to zero-hours contracts and casual work?
The Act creates new protections to provide greater security and predictability at work, such as guaranteed-hours, reasonable notice of shift changes and a new framework for agency agreements. These rights are due to come into force during 2027, with important details to be set out in regulations.
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What safeguards are there to stop employers avoiding the new rules by reclassifying workers as self-employed?
A worker's legal status is determined by the reality of the working relationship, not simply by the label used in a contract. An employer cannot avoid employment rights simply by describing someone as self-employed if, in practice, they meet the legal definition of a worker or employee.
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