UK — The UK government will implement a ban on zero-hours contracts next year through its Employment Rights Act, requiring employers to offer minimum guaranteed weekly hours based on a 12-week reference period of regular work. Employers, including those using agency workers, must provide contracts guaranteeing between eight and 20 hours per week under the government’s preferred policy framework.
Businesses will calculate a worker’s regular hours over a 12-week period to set the guaranteed minimum. Workers will retain the option to choose zero-hours contracts but will become eligible for compensation if their shifts are altered at short notice.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said: “It’s not right that people can work regular hours but still have no certainty about their pay from week to week. These vital changes will mean more certainty for millions of people and will save the lowest paid workers hundreds of pounds.” He added: “We’re consulting because we need to get the detail right to ensure these reforms work in practice and guard against unintended consequences from this major change to the labour market.”
Joanne Thomas, general secretary of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw, criticized the cap on guaranteed hours. “It is deeply disappointing that the government is intending to not give all workers the right to a guaranteed hours contract, despite that being the very clear manifesto commitment,” she said. Thomas added: “Many of our members are employed on short-hours contracts, routinely working significantly more hours than they are contracted. Those additional hours can be removed at the discretion of the employer, leaving workers without stability or security.” She said young people, women, disabled workers and those from minority communities were disproportionately affected by zero and short-hours contracts.
Kate Nicholls, chair of the UKHospitality trade body, defended the continued use of zero-hours contracts, calling access to them “crucial.” She said that a 26-week reference period would be “a fairer and more accurate reflection of a team member's regular work pattern,” that would take into account the seasonal nature of working in hospitality. Nicholls warned: “There is a danger that over-regulating flexible work actually increases work instability, rather than decrease it, which would undermine the government’s agenda to get people back into work.”
More than 1 million people in the UK currently work under zero-hours contracts. The British Retail Consortium said a 12-week reference period could lead retailers to reduce part-time hiring during peak seasons like Christmas and called the classification of contracts up to 20 hours as “low-hours” disproportionate. The package of workers’ rights has faced opposition from Conservative lawmakers and business groups.