Can I refuse a shift on a zero-hours contract?
No guaranteed hours does not mean no rights. Check your pay, holiday and redundancy entitlement, whether you can refuse shifts, and what is still only a promised reform.
A zero-hours contract gives you no guaranteed work. It does not wipe out your rights to minimum wage, paid holiday or rest breaks. Whether you also get sick pay, notice and redundancy pay depends on your employment status. The contract label alone does not decide.
- £12.71
- hourly minimum at 21+ from April 2026
- 12.07%
- holiday accrual for qualifying irregular-hours workers
- £123.25
- weekly SSP ceiling from April 2026
- 6 mths
- most GB tribunal claim limits from October 2026
What is a zero-hours contract in the UK?
A zero-hours contract means the employer does not guarantee to offer you work. You might work regular shifts, but the hours are not promised. In everyday use, “zero hours” often means neither side has to offer or accept a shift. Do not assume that is what you have agreed: some contracts require you to accept work when offered.
For its exclusivity ban, Great Britain’s Employment Rights Act 1996 defines a zero-hours contract as one where you agree to work if the employer makes work available, but there is no certainty it will. That definition includes contracts requiring acceptance. Check your written statement, which workers and employees should receive on day one, against how the job actually runs. Who sets shifts? Can you decline one? Must you do the work personally?
What are my rights on a zero-hours contract?
Workers and employees both have basic employment rights. “Zero hours” is not an exemption from paying you properly. The table covers Great Britain; Northern Ireland differs on exclusivity clauses and has separate hours reforms.
| Right | Worker, not employee | Employee |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum wage (£12.71 at 21+ since 1 Apr 2026) | Yes | Yes |
| Paid holiday (5.6 weeks; 12.07% accrual for qualifying irregular hours) | Yes | Yes |
| Rest breaks, itemised payslips and discrimination protection | Yes | Yes |
| Day-one written statement of employment particulars | Yes | Yes |
| Exclusivity ban and protection against worse treatment for taking other work | Yes | Yes, plus automatically unfair dismissal protection |
| SSP (lower of £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings) | No | Yes, if eligible |
| Statutory notice after one month’s continuous employment | No | Yes |
| Statutory family leave | No | Yes, subject to the rules for that leave |
| Statutory redundancy pay | No | Yes, if made redundant after two years’ continuous employment |
| Ordinary unfair dismissal protection | No | Normally after two years in 2026; six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027 |
Zero-hours contract employee rights: what status changes
An employee has the basic worker rights plus the additional rights shown above. Regular hours alone do not prove employee status. Being labelled self-employed does not settle it either: control, personal service and mutual obligation matter. Compare your terms with the actual job, using our employment status guide.
Do you get redundancy pay on a zero-hours contract?
Yes, if you are an employee, have at least two years’ continuous employment and are made redundant. A zero-hours contract does not rule you out. Someone with worker status only cannot claim statutory redundancy pay. Check your status and service before accepting “you’re on zero hours” as a reason to pay you nothing.
Do gaps between shifts break the two-year service requirement?
They can. A full Sunday-to-Saturday week with no work under contract usually breaks continuous employment, though sickness of up to 26 weeks and some temporary gaps can preserve it. A run of shifts is not necessarily one continuous employment contract. Keep rotas, payslips and written agreements, including records of weeks without work, to establish your service.
How is redundancy pay calculated when your hours vary?
For employees without normal working hours, a week’s pay is generally averaged over the last 12 weeks in which they were paid. The calculation counts up to 20 years’ service. Each completed year contributes:
- Half a week’s pay for service when you were under 22.
- One week’s pay for service aged 22 to 40.
- One-and-a-half weeks’ pay for service aged 41 or over.
In Great Britain, the weekly pay used is capped at £751 from 6 April 2026. The Northern Ireland cap is £783.
Example: Dan’s redundancy
Dan is 44, has nine years’ uninterrupted employee service and averaged £400 over his last 12 paid weeks. Three completed years count at 1.5 weeks and six at one week: (3 × 1.5 + 6) × £400 = £4,200. His pay is below the GB weekly cap. This example assumes those years fall in the age bands shown and there are no continuity gaps.
What if my employer just stops giving me shifts?
Losing future shifts is not automatically a redundancy dismissal. If you are an employee, ask in writing whether your contract has ended and why. Save the last rota and any messages explaining the change. Check the answer with your union or Acas rather than assuming that no shifts means no claim. Statutory redundancy pay claims normally have a tribunal limit of six months minus one day; do not wait for an employer’s reply before getting advice about your deadline.
Can I claim unfair dismissal as well?
Ordinary unfair dismissal protection is for employees and normally still requires two years’ continuous employment in 2026. For GB dismissals from 1 January 2027, the qualifying period falls to six months. That does not reduce the two-year redundancy threshold. Some automatically unfair reasons, including dismissal for working elsewhere in breach of an unenforceable exclusivity term, need no two-year service. See redundancy pay and unfair dismissal.
Pros and cons of zero-hours contracts
The advantage for you is flexibility, but only if you can actually turn work down. The disadvantage is that the employer can leave you without the hours you need to pay the rent. Those are not equal freedoms when you depend on the next rota.
| Possible advantage | What to weigh against it |
|---|---|
| Choosing shifts around study or caring | Only works if your terms let you refuse. Some contracts require you to accept offered work. |
| Combining work with another job | In Great Britain, an exclusivity clause cannot bar other work. You still need shifts that fit around each other. |
| Taking occasional work without a fixed pattern | No guaranteed hours or income makes rent and childcare harder to plan. There is no general statutory cancellation payment yet. |
The risk is not theoretical. In a 2024 TUC poll, 84% of zero-hours workers wanted regular hours and 75% had struggled to meet living expenses because they did not get enough hours.
If you keep working the same shifts, ask for guaranteed part-time hours or discuss whether an annualised-hours contract would suit you. The 2027 guaranteed-hours scheme is not in force yet; when it starts, qualifying workers will be able to reject an offer.
Zero-hours contract pay: minimum wage, payslips and pension
You must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage for working time, including required training and travel between work assignments where it counts as working time. From 1 April 2026 the rates are £12.71 an hour at 21 and over, £10.85 at 18-20 and £8.00 under 18. Check the total hours against your pay rather than trusting the hourly rate printed on a rota. You can raise underpayment with HMRC; the Fair Work Agency was established on 7 April 2026.
Example: Aisha’s pay check
Aisha, 25, works 34 hours and is paid £415.92. £415.92 ÷ 34 = £12.23 an hour. That is £0.48 below the £12.71 National Living Wage. She is £16.32 underpaid that week.
Zero hours does not exempt pay from tax or National Insurance. Your employer should use PAYE, with deductions where due. Workers have had a right to itemised payslips since April 2019, and eligible workers should be auto-enrolled into a pension if they meet the age and earnings conditions. For agency staff, the 12-week rule can bring equal treatment on pay and basic conditions in the same role with the same hirer.
Do you get holiday pay on a zero-hours contract?
Workers have 5.6 weeks’ paid leave each year, subject to the statutory 28-day cap. For those whose hours are wholly or mostly variable under their contract, and for part-year workers, leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024 use accrual at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period. Not every worker who sometimes does overtime meets that definition. Holiday continues to accrue during sick and statutory family leave under separate calculation rules.
Example: Ben’s April holiday
Ben is an irregular-hours worker who works 60 hours in April. The calculation is 60 × 12.07% = 7.242 hours; under the statutory rounding rule, that is seven hours of leave for the pay period. If his employer instead uses rolled-up holiday pay, £762.60 basic wages at £12.71 an hour plus £92.05 holiday pay (12.07% of wages) equals £854.65. The £92.05 must appear separately on his payslip. Rolling up the pay does not take away his time off.
Rolled-up pay is an option only for qualifying irregular-hours and part-year workers in those leave years. Otherwise, holiday pay for irregular hours generally uses the last 52 weeks in which pay was earned. The employer can look back up to 104 weeks to find them. Workers also get a 20-minute break on days exceeding six hours, 11 hours’ rest between working days, and 24 hours a week or 48 hours a fortnight. See working time and holiday pay.
Do you get sick pay on a zero-hours contract?
Statutory Sick Pay is for qualifying employees, not people who only have limb-(b) worker status. Since 6 April 2026, across the UK, the lower earnings limit and three waiting days have gone. The weekly rate is the lower of £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings; payment for eligible full sickness days can start on day one and last up to 28 weeks.
Example: Chloe’s sick pay
Chloe is an eligible employee averaging £60 a week. Eighty per cent of £60 is £48, below the £123.25 maximum, so her full-week SSP rate is £48. Before April 2026, her earnings would have been too low to qualify.
If you are a worker rather than an employee, check whether your contract offers contractual sick pay. Many do not. Either way, you may qualify for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance when unfit for work. See our Statutory Sick Pay guide.
Can I refuse a shift on a zero-hours contract?
On a genuinely casual zero-hours arrangement, you can turn down a shift. Read your terms before refusing. The statutory definition also covers contracts that oblige you to accept work when offered, and a refusal may have different consequences under those terms. The “zero hours” label alone does not tell you your status or what you have agreed to.
Can I work a second job?
In Great Britain, a term in a qualifying zero-hours contract that bars other work or makes it subject to consent is unenforceable. The ban began on 26 May 2015. Since 11 January 2016, the redress regulations have protected workers against detriment and employees against automatically unfair dismissal for breaching such a term. Employees need no qualifying service for that dismissal claim.
See our guide to exclusivity clauses and working another job.
Can my employer cancel a zero-hours shift without pay?
There is no general statutory cancellation payment or minimum advance notice of a shift in force today. Check whether the contract promises a cancellation fee or pay for turning up, and keep the rota and cancellation message. If you have already worked, you must still be paid for that work. A “no pay on cancellation” term does not resolve every dispute. Whether a shift was agreed and whether pay is owed can depend on the contract and circumstances.
How much notice do I get if the job ends?
Ending the contract is a different question. An employee is entitled to at least one week’s notice from the employer after one month’s continuous service. That rises to one week per complete year after two years, up to 12 weeks. The employee generally owes at least one week after a month. Workers have no statutory notice period for ending their engagement, though their contract may provide one. See notice periods.
Are zero-hours contracts changing in 2027?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. Some reforms have started; its guaranteed-hours, shift-notice and cancellation-payment duties have not. The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 was repealed without coming into force in January 2026. There is no statutory right under that Act to request a predictable pattern. The new scheme will require qualifying employers to offer guaranteed hours instead.
- In force: Royal Assent
Employment Rights Act 2025 becomes law; the strikes minimum-service statute is repealed.
- In force: sick pay and leave
SSP waiting days and earnings floor end; day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave begin. The Fair Work Agency is established on 7 April.
- In force: more time to claim
Most employment tribunal claim limits rise from three to six months; Scottish employment-contract claims follow on 9 November.
- Scheduled: harassment and unions
Stronger sexual-harassment prevention and third-party protections, alongside union access and representative rights.
- Scheduled: dismissal reform
Six-month qualifying service for ordinary unfair dismissal, for dismissals from this date; compensatory awards uncapped.
- Planned: zero-hours protections
Guaranteed-hours offers, reasonable notice of shifts and changes, and payments for short-notice cancellation. The exact commencement date, thresholds and rates are not fixed.
Details are still being decided. The consultation, which closed on 25 August 2026, discussed a 12-week initial reference period, a possible eight-to-20-hour weekly threshold for low-hours staff, and different ways to average hours. None is a settled statutory threshold or payment rate. These GB provisions do not extend to Northern Ireland. Its proposed Good Jobs Bill includes a different route to banded-hours contracts, but is not yet law.
How to challenge missing pay or lost shifts
- Check the arrangement. Compare your written terms with the actual rota, your right to refuse shifts and who controls your work. Regular hours alone do not establish employee status; the whole relationship counts.
- Keep a record. Save each rota, timesheet, payslip and cancellation message. Note the date, hours and pay for every shift, including care travel between visits where it counts as working time. Keep weeks with no work too.
- Put the missing pay in writing. Tell your employer which shifts or holiday hours are unpaid and ask them to correct the payslip. Keep a copy. Report minimum-wage underpayment to HMRC. For a cancelled shift, check the contract and ask for any promised pay; the planned 2027 rules are not yet a right.
- Get help before time runs out. For most GB tribunal claims, the limit is six months minus one day where the relevant date falls on or after 1 October 2026. Earlier relevant dates normally keep the old three-month-minus-one-day limit; the new rules do not revive expired claims. The relevant date depends on the claim. Notify Acas for early conciliation within your limit; conciliation pauses the clock. Statutory redundancy pay claims already had a six-month-minus-one-day limit. Check Acas’s tribunal time-limit guidance and get advice on your own deadline.
You do not have to take this on alone. Ask your union: Unite for hospitality, UNISON for care or health, USDAW for retail, or GMB for logistics and warehouse work. Citizens Advice and local law centres can help you find advice. Report labour exploitation in a GLAA-regulated sector to the GLAA, unsafe work to the HSE, and seek discrimination advice from the Equality Advisory and Support Service, then contact Acas for early conciliation within the tribunal limit that applies.
Questions people ask
Do you get redundancy pay on a zero-hours contract?
Yes, if you are an employee with at least two years’ continuous employment and are made redundant. For employees without normal working hours, a week’s pay is generally averaged over the last 12 paid weeks, subject to the £751 GB weekly cap from 6 April 2026. A worker without employee status cannot claim statutory redundancy pay. An employer stopping your shifts is not automatically a redundancy dismissal; ask whether your contract has ended.
Can I refuse a shift on a zero-hours contract?
Yes, if the agreement genuinely lets you turn work down. Some zero-hours contracts require acceptance when work is offered, so check the terms before refusing. The label alone does not decide what you have agreed to.
Do you get sick pay on a zero-hours contract?
Qualifying employees can receive SSP from their first eligible full sickness day, at the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings since 6 April 2026. Limb-(b) workers are not entitled to SSP.
Can I work a second job on a zero-hours contract?
Yes, in Great Britain a qualifying zero-hours exclusivity clause cannot bar another job or require consent for it. Workers are protected against detriment, and employees against automatically unfair dismissal, for breaching that unenforceable term. Northern Ireland does not have the same ban.
What if your shift is cancelled at the last minute?
Check your contractual cancellation terms and whether you have already done paid work. There is no general statutory cancellation payment yet. A statutory right for qualifying short-notice changes is planned for 2027; the rate is not fixed.
How is holiday calculated with variable hours?
For qualifying irregular-hours or part-year workers in leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, 12.07% of hours worked accrues as leave in each pay period, rounded to the nearest hour. An employer may instead pay holiday on top of wages each pay period if rolled-up pay is permitted, but you still take leave.
Sources
- Employment Rights Act 1996, Part 2A, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025 (c.36), legislation.gov.uk
- Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update, gov.uk
- Ending one-sided flexibility consultation, gov.uk
- Exclusivity Terms in Zero Hours Contracts (Redress) Regulations 2015, legislation.gov.uk
- Zero-hours contracts guidance, Acas
- National Minimum Wage and Living Wage rates, gov.uk
- Holiday entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024, gov.uk
- Calculating holiday pay for workers without fixed hours, gov.uk
- Statutory Sick Pay: what you’ll get, gov.uk
- Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026, legislation.gov.uk
- Fair Work Agency, gov.uk
- Agency workers: your rights, gov.uk
- Over 8 in 10 zero-hours contract workers want regular hours: TUC poll reveals, TUC
- Over 370,000 workers were underpaid in April 2024, Low Pay Commission