Zero-Hours Contracts: What Rights You Actually Have

Around a million people in the UK work under zero-hours contracts. They're completely legal — but "zero-hours" doesn't mean "zero rights." Here's what your employer can and can't do, and where the real protections are.

What a zero-hours contract actually means

It means your employer isn't obliged to offer you a minimum number of hours, and you're not obliged to accept every shift offered. Pay is only for hours you actually work. That's the core of it — everything else about your employment rights stays intact.

You can turn down shifts — and can't be punished for it

This is one of the most misunderstood parts of zero-hours work. You're entitled to decline any shift offered. Your employer legally cannot treat you worse — fewer future shifts, worse rota placement, exclusion from opportunities — specifically because you turned work down. In practice this is hard to prove, but it is unlawful, and a clear pattern (e.g. shifts drying up right after you decline one) is worth documenting.

Exclusivity clauses are unenforceable

Some zero-hours contracts include a clause saying you can't work for another employer. These clauses have been unenforceable by law since 2015. If your contract has one, it simply has no legal effect — you're free to take a second job regardless of what it says.

Minimum wage still applies — but check how it's calculated

You must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage for every hour actually worked. What catches people out is unpaid extras around the edges — arriving early, staying late to cash up, unpaid "on-call" waiting time that should count as working time. If any of that isn't reflected in your pay, your effective hourly rate may be below minimum wage even if your stated rate looks fine.

Holiday pay — the part most zero-hours workers miss

Zero-hours workers accrue paid holiday just like anyone else, calculated in proportion to hours actually worked (roughly 12.07% of hours worked, as a rule of thumb, though the exact method has changed with recent legislation — check current guidance). If you've never taken or been paid for holiday on a zero-hours job, that's very likely money you're owed, not a benefit that doesn't apply to you.

Rest breaks and working time limits still apply

You're entitled to a 20-minute break if you work more than 6 hours in a shift, at least 11 hours rest between shifts, and the same protections against being made to work excessive hours as any other worker.

Guaranteed hours — a genuinely new protection

Under recent employment law changes, workers who regularly work more than their contracted hours over a reference period will get a right to be offered a contract reflecting those actual hours. If you've been working consistent, predictable hours on paper as "zero-hours" for months, this is a change worth watching closely for your situation.

If something's not adding up

• Keep your own record of shifts worked and offered/declined, in case a pattern emerges
• Raise pay or holiday discrepancies with your employer in writing first
• HMRC enforces minimum wage law and can investigate underpayment, including anonymously

Our free Zero-Hours Contract Checker walks through your specific situation, and our letter templates include wording for raising shift-pattern or pay issues with your employer.