Exclusivity clauses: can I work another job?
A second-job ban is not binding just because you signed it. Check what the clause means, whether it can be enforced and what to do if your shifts are cut.
If your employment contract says you cannot work elsewhere, or must ask permission first, you are looking at an exclusivity clause. It can leave you short of rent when one job does not offer enough shifts. In Great Britain, zero-hours and low-paid workers have protection even if they signed the clause.
- £129
- net weekly threshold for 2026/27
- Any pay
- zero-hours protection has no earnings limit
- Day 1
- employees need no service for this dismissal claim
- GB only
- these statutory bans exclude Northern Ireland
What is an exclusivity clause in an employment contract?
An exclusivity clause limits your ability to take other work during your contract. It can ban outside work outright or make it conditional on your employer’s consent. Acas distinguishes these clauses from restrictions that apply after you leave.
What does an exclusivity clause look like?
These are examples of wording to look for, not clauses to copy:
- “You must not work for another employer without our written consent.”
- “You must not undertake other employment or business activity during this contract.”
Both restrict outside work. A permission requirement is not a way around the ban for protected workers.
Exclusivity agreement, exclusivity provision or exclusive contract?
If your employer calls the restriction an “exclusivity agreement” or “exclusivity provision”, check what it actually requires. Does it ban another job, or make you ask permission? Those are the restrictions the statutory bans cover. The heading does not decide whether the term binds you.
“Exclusive contract” can also describe a business agreement rather than an employment contract. This guide concerns restrictions on your work, not commercial agreements about buying or supplying goods. If you are genuinely self-employed, ordinary contract law governs your agreement; the worker protections below do not apply.
Is it the same as a non-compete clause?
No. An exclusivity clause operates while your contract continues. A post-employment restrictive covenant applies after you leave: a non-compete might prevent you joining a competitor for a defined period, while a non-solicitation clause might restrict approaches to former clients. Those restrictions have a separate legal test. The zero-hours exclusivity ban does not cancel them.
Are exclusivity clauses legal and enforceable in the UK?
Not every exclusivity clause is binding. In Great Britain, there are two situations where the term is “unenforceable against the worker”. Signing it does not make it enforceable, and the employer cannot get around the protection by asking for consent rather than banning other work outright.
| Your contract | The rule | In force since |
|---|---|---|
| Zero-hours contract, at any pay rate | A ban on other work or a requirement to obtain consent is unenforceable under section 27A of the Employment Rights Act 1996. | 26 May 2015 |
| Other worker contract, with net average weekly wages at or below the Lower Earnings Limit | An exclusivity term is unenforceable under the 2022 Regulations. | 5 December 2022 |
| Non-zero-hours contract, with net average weekly wages above the limit | These statutory bans do not apply. Contract law and other employment rights still matter. | No protection under these bans |
Can a zero-hours contract stop you working elsewhere?
The legal definition of a zero-hours contract has two parts. Your undertaking to work depends on the employer making work available, and there is no certainty that any work will be offered. The label on the contract is not decisive. A zero-hours support worker paid £40 an hour is protected regardless of earnings. A worker with guaranteed hours and net average wages of £200 a week is outside these two bans.
Exclusivity clauses in low-paid contracts: the £129 test
You do not have to be on a zero-hours contract to qualify. A part-time or other worker contract can be covered by the low-pay ban.
If your contract is not zero-hours, compare your net average weekly wages under that contract with the National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit. From 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, the limit is £129 a week. Exactly £129 qualifies. Check the figure for the relevant tax year rather than assuming it stays the same.
Regulations 4 to 6 set the calculation. For a permanent contract, divide the total remuneration you are entitled to under the contract for a 52-week period by 52. For any other contract, divide the total contractual remuneration by the number of weeks the contract is expected to continue. Subtract “all deductions of whatever nature” to reach the net average.
Use contractual entitlement rather than the pay from a quiet week. Tax, National Insurance and pension deductions can affect the result. The test concerns pay under the contract containing the restriction, not your combined income from every job. Keep the contract, pay information and payslips; if the calculation is disputed, ask your employer to show its workings.
Some guaranteed work usually means you need this low-pay test rather than the zero-hours test. Variable hours alone do not make a contract zero-hours. Check each contract separately if you have more than one job.
Example: Lena’s bar shifts
Lena is 25 and has a permanent contract for 10 hours a week at the £12.71 National Living Wage rate that applies from 1 April 2026. With no other contractual pay, her weekly gross wages are 10 × £12.71 = £127.10. She is below £129 even before deductions, so an exclusivity term cannot bind her.
At 11 hours, her gross wages would be 11 × £12.71 = £139.81. That does not settle the question. With no deductions, she would be above the limit. If her net-pay calculation included £15 a week in deductions, the result would be £139.81 minus £15 = £124.81, and she would still qualify. There is no universal ten-hour cut-off.
For comparison, an eight-week seasonal contract with total contractual pay of £900 averages £900 ÷ 8 = £112.50 a week before deductions. That also falls within the protection.
Can an exclusivity clause stop a second job above £129 a week?
It may, if your contract is not zero-hours and your net average weekly wages exceed the limit. Full-time or part-time status alone does not decide the answer. Above the limit, ordinary contract law and your other employment rights matter. Get advice on the wording, your duties and the employer’s business interests before ignoring the restriction.
An employer may cite conflicts of interest, confidential information or fatigue. A targeted restriction on conflicting work may be easier to justify than a blanket ban on unrelated evening work. Ask whether notification or narrower wording would address the concern, and get any agreed exception in writing. You can still need another job to pay the bills while falling outside these bans. That gap benefits employers, not workers.
Your total hours across jobs count for the Working Time Regulations. The general adult limit is an average of 48 hours a week unless you have a valid written opt-out. An employer may need information about your other hours to manage compliance and fatigue.
Can you be sacked or lose shifts for breaching an exclusivity clause?
If a statutory ban covers you, your employer cannot lawfully punish you for breaching that exclusivity term. Losing shifts, a warning or dismissal can give you a claim. The route depends on your employment status: an employee is also a worker, but not every worker is an employee.
Employee
- If breach of the protected exclusivity term is the reason or principal reason for dismissal, the dismissal is automatically unfair.
- There is no minimum service requirement for this claim.
- Other punishment, such as warnings or lost shifts, can be challenged as detriment.
Worker who is not an employee
- You cannot claim unfair dismissal, but can claim detriment for punishment such as rota cuts.
- Termination of your worker contract can itself be a detriment. A special compensation limit applies in that situation.
Zero-hours redress rights took effect on 11 January 2016. The 2022 Regulations extended equivalent remedies to the low-paid group from 5 December 2022.
What compensation can cover
Detriment compensation covers loss caused, including earnings, expenses and lost benefits. You must take reasonable steps to limit your loss, such as seeking replacement work. Your own contributory conduct can reduce the award.
Example: shifts disappear after a second job
A zero-hours retail worker takes evening work at a cafe. Their first employer removes them from the rota for breaching its exclusivity clause. Eight lost weeks at £152 a week gives an earnings loss of 8 × £152 = £1,216. The tribunal considers evidence of the likely shifts, replacement earnings and efforts to find work. This is not a promised award.
For termination of a non-employee worker’s contract, compensation is capped at an individual basic-award equivalent plus the statutory compensatory limit. From 6 April 2026, the limits are £751 for a week’s pay and £123,543 for the compensatory element. The basic-award equivalent depends on age, service and pay.
How to challenge an exclusivity clause or punishment
- Check the contract and your status. Keep the clause and a payslip; the £129 test uses net average weekly wages under that contract.
- Keep evidence. Save rotas, messages, warnings and dismissal letters showing the reason. Note dates.
- Challenge it in writing. Say why the term is unenforceable and ask the employer to reverse its decision. Use its grievance or appeal process if appropriate. Keep a copy.
- Notify Acas promptly. Early conciliation is normally required before a claim. Do not wait for an internal process. The deadline may be three months or six months less one day; the transition rule is below.
- Get backup. Contact your union, including Unite in hospitality or retail and UNISON in care or health, Citizens Advice or a local law centre. For wage theft through below-minimum pay, report it to HMRC. Report relevant labour exploitation to the GLAA, unsafe work to the HSE, or discrimination to the EHRC. Reporting does not replace a claim or stop its deadline.
- Take advice before resigning. Speak to Acas, your union or a solicitor. Read our guides to tribunal claims and constructive dismissal.
If the zero-hours ban covers you, a starting point for your message is: “My contract is zero-hours. Under section 27A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the term restricting other work is unenforceable against me. Please confirm that you will not use it to stop me working elsewhere or penalise me.” If you qualify through low pay instead, refer to the 2022 Regulations and explain your net average weekly wage calculation. If you have already lost shifts or received a warning, identify the decision and ask for it to be reversed.
The deadline changed on 1 October 2026
The general tribunal limit increased from three to six months on 1 October 2026. For exclusivity detriment claims, SI 2026/758, regulations 7, 9 and 10, confirms the extension and transition rule.
For a detriment on or after 1 October 2026, the normal limit is six months less one day from the act or failure to act. For a series of similar acts, use the last act. If that relevant date was before 1 October, the old three-month limit still applies. For example, a single rota cut on 2 October 2026 normally gives a deadline of 1 April 2027, before any early-conciliation adjustment.
For unfair dismissal, time runs from the effective date of termination. Ask Acas or your adviser to calculate the deadline, especially for events straddling the change. Early conciliation affects time limits; an internal grievance does not pause them. Do not rely on the tribunal’s discretion to admit a late detriment claim.
Do exclusivity clauses cover agency workers or self-employed people?
Agency workers
Your agency contract may qualify under the zero-hours or low-pay ban. Separately, regulation 6 of the Conduct Regulations 2003 protects relevant work-seekers, but excludes employees and apprentices of an employment business.
It restricts punishment for ending or giving notice to end the contract with an agency or employment business. An employment business must also not punish a relevant work-seeker for taking or proposing to take employment elsewhere. Nor can it demand their future employer’s identity. Reasonable notice requirements and recovery of losses from failing to perform agreed work are not automatically prohibited.
Self-employed work
Genuinely self-employed people fall outside these bans; contract law governs their business agreements. A “self-employed” label does not settle your legal status. Check our employment status guide if you are unsure.
Do exclusivity clause rules differ in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
Scotland has the same statutory protection as England and Wales. The 2022 Regulations expressly cover those three nations, but not Northern Ireland. See our guide to Northern Ireland employment law for the wider differences.
Are exclusivity clause rights changing under the Employment Rights Act 2025?
This guide covers the law on 1 October 2026. The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, but not every provision is in force. The existing exclusivity bans remain your protection.
The government also schedules a six-month qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal and removal of the compensatory-award cap for 1 January 2027. Protected exclusivity dismissals already have no qualifying period. Our 2025 Act guide explains the wider changes.
The government timetable warns that future dates may change. Scheduled rights are not remedies you can use today.
Questions people ask
Can I be sacked for getting a second job?
An employee dismissed principally for breaching a protected exclusivity term can claim automatic unfair dismissal without minimum service. A non-employee worker can challenge termination as detriment. Separate misconduct is not excused.
My contract says I must ask permission first. Is that allowed?
Not as a binding restriction if either statutory ban covers you. Requiring consent is itself an exclusivity term. Genuine notification for working-time or safety purposes is different.
Does the £129 limit include my earnings from a second job?
No. It concerns net average weekly wages under the contract containing the restriction, not income from every job. Check each employer’s contract separately.
I earn more than £129 gross. Can I still qualify?
Yes. Deductions may bring your net average weekly wages within the limit. A zero-hours contract qualifies regardless of earnings. If neither route applies, get advice before breaching the restriction.
Does this let me join a competitor after I leave?
No. A post-employment non-compete has a separate enforceability test. Read its wording and our restrictive covenants guide before assuming you can ignore it.
I get work through an agency. Am I covered?
Your contract may qualify under the zero-hours or low-pay ban. Separate Conduct Regulations protection may apply, but excludes employees of an employment business. Check your status and contract.
Sources
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 27A, legislation.gov.uk
- Exclusivity Terms for Zero Hours Workers (Unenforceability and Redress) Regulations 2022, legislation.gov.uk
- Exclusivity Terms in Zero Hours Contracts (Redress) Regulations 2015, legislation.gov.uk
- Terms restricting a worker’s actions, Acas
- Rates and allowances: National Insurance contributions, HM Revenue & Customs
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, GOV.UK
- Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Tribunal (Extension of Time Limits) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026, legislation.gov.uk
- Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, regulation 6, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025, section 8, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2026, legislation.gov.uk
- Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update, 25 September 2026, GOV.UK
- Good Jobs employment-rights proposals, Northern Ireland Department for the Economy
- The experience of insecure work, Trades Union Congress, 30 September 2025
- Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026, Ministry of Justice, 11 June 2026
- Pay and work rights complaints, HM Revenue & Customs
- Information for workers, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
- Concerns about health and safety, Health and Safety Executive
- Equality Act 2010, Equality and Human Rights Commission