Zero hour contracts

This type of employment contract is more and more common

Written by spunout

Factsheet

Fact checked by experts and reviewed by young people.

Zero hour contracts are contracts of employment signed by you and your boss that state that you are employed to work for the company, but you’re not guaranteed a set number of hours. This type of contract requires you to be available for work, but your employer does not have to give you work. Zero Hours contracts are used by employers who have seasonal work, and do not want to employ someone when there might not be work available for them to do.

What am I entitled to on a Zero Hours Contract?

On a zero hours contract you are not entitled to be paid for public holidays, like other workers are.You are entitled to be paid for 25% of the hours for which you were required to be available for, even if you were not given work.

Unless you have signed a contract in which you agreed to be available for a certain number of hours per week, you are not entitled to be paid the 25%. However, if you agree to be available for a certain number of hours and you are not called into work then you are entitled to be compensated for 25% of the hours you were available for, or 15 hours’ work, whichever is lesser.

The average number of hours you work has no reflection on the amount of money you will be entitled to or how much you could be compensated if you are not called into work because it is only compensation for the hours you agree to make yourself available. For example, if you have a contract which requires you to be available for 8 hours a week, and you have been working 16 hours a week for 5 weeks, you are not entitled to payment if those hours are no longer offered to you.

If your contract does not specify how many hours you should be available, then you also have no right to compensation if you are not called into work.

For more information about your rights on a zero hour contract click here.

Need more information?

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