Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: Consultation on guaranteed hours contracts for zero and low hours workers

3 June 2026 5 min read

By Rachel Chapman

At a glance

The government has published a consultation on implementing Employment Rights Act (ERA) rights for zero and low hours workers to receive guaranteed hours contracts, with key details to be set in regulations.
The policy aims to improve security for workers, rebalance labour market flexibility, and support economic growth.
Eligibility will depend on a yet-to-be-finalised hours threshold (proposed 8–20 hours) and workers regularly exceeding contractual hours over a reference period (preferred 12 weeks).
Employers may need to make periodic guaranteed hours offers based on average hours worked, with options for mean or median calculations and limited flexibility.
The consultation also covers exclusions (including potential treatment of agency workers), seasonal / temporary work exceptions, and rights relating to notice and compensation for short notice shift changes.

The government has published its consultation paper on the details of the measures in the ERA to give workers on zero and low hours contracts the right to a guaranteed hours contract in certain circumstances. The provisions in the ERA are lengthy and complex but much of the detail remains to be established in regulations. This may be one of the few aspects of the ERA where there is still potential for employers to have some influence over how the policy is implemented in practice.

The government had identified three main objectives which will guide the final policy decisions:

Establish a baseline of security and stability for workers facing unpredictable hours.
Rebalance labour market flexibility.
Support sustained economic growth across the economy.

Hours threshold

One of the key factors which will influence how significant the changes are is the hours threshold at which workers will qualify for the right to a guaranteed hours contract. The government’s preference is to set the threshold within the range of eight to 20 hours per week.

Agency workers

Regulations could establish that agency workers are excluded from the scope of the right to guaranteed hours either where they already have a contract guaranteeing hours above the threshold regardless of which hirer the hours are to be worked for, or where they already have a contract guaranteeing hours above the threshold specifically for one hirer.

Initial reference period

The right to guaranteed hours will apply where the worker regularly works more than their contract hours over a reference period. The government’s preferred option is for the initial reference period to be 12 weeks, but the consultation seeks views.

Subsequent reference period

At the end of each reference period employers will be required to issue guaranteed hours offers to qualifying workers. The government is seeking views on whether the subsequent reference periods should be the same as the initial reference periods, or longer (six months or a year are proposed).

The government is also seeking views on whether there should be a gap between the initial reference period and the subsequent reference period.

Regularity requirements

The hours worked must comply with regularity requirements to be set out in regulations. The government is consulting on two options:

Option A: hours worked during the reference period must be distributed over a specified minimum number of calendar weeks, which would not have to be consecutive.
Option B: The worker must meet both the weekly distribution requirement and a minimum number of hours in excess of the worker’s total number of contracted hours. For example, if the weekly distribution is set at eight weeks, and the total hours requirement is set at 96 hours, then a worker who is guaranteed 24 hours per week would need to work at least 120 hours per week across the 12-week reference period and to work in at least eight of the 12 weeks.

The government is seeking views on which option should be used and what the weekly distribution and, if applicable, total hours requirement should be and if they should be scaled if subsequent reference periods are longer.

Seasonal work and temporary need

Employers can use limited-term contracts to manage periods of increased demand, for example due to seasonal fluctuations. If a limited term contract is shorter than the relevant reference period, the employer would not need to make a guaranteed hours offer provided it was reasonable for the contract to be entered into as a limited term. A limited-term contract is reasonable where it would be reasonable for the employer to consider:

That a worker is only needed to perform a specific task and the contract will be terminated when that task is performed; or
That a worker is only needed until a particular event occurs or does not occur; or
There is a temporary need.

A guaranteed hours contract may also be limited-term where that is reasonable.

Guaranteed hours offer

The government is considering two options for calculating the guaranteed hours offer:

Option 1: Mean average.
Option 2: Median average.

The government is also consulting on whether employers should be given a small degree of flexibility to use an adjustment margin when making a guaranteed hours offer, for example to better reflect shift patterns.

Exemptions and exclusions

The government is seeking views on whether types of workers should be excluded from the right to guaranteed hours and whether there are any circumstances in which employers should be exempt.

Reasonable notice of shifts and payment for shifts cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice

The government will also set an hours threshold for this right to apply, which may be different than the hours threshold for guaranteed hours.

The consultation seeks views on what length of notice should be regarded as reasonable.

In respect of the right to payment, the consultation seeks views on what timeframe should be regarded as short notice, whether the payment should be calculated as a percentage of what the worker would have earned from working the relevant hours or a percentage of what the worker would have earned from working the relevant hours at the applicable National Minimum Wage rate and what that percentage should be.

The consultation closes on 25 August 2026.