Zero Hours Contracts UK 2026: Rights, Pay & the New Guaranteed Hours Law

Zero hours contracts give employers flexibility to call on workers without committing to a guaranteed number of hours -- but that flexibility does not mean zero rights. In 2026, zero hours workers in the UK have a comprehensive set of entitlements covering minimum wage, holiday pay, sick pay, maternity rights, and, crucially, a new right to request a guaranteed hours contract if their work pattern becomes regular. Understanding what you are owed is essential whether you are an employee, worker, or self-employed contractor.

Employment Status: Worker vs Employee vs Self-Employed

The rights available on a zero hours contract depend on employment status. Most zero hours workers are "workers" rather than employees, though the distinction can be blurred in practice.

Workers have the right to National Minimum Wage, paid annual leave (5.6 weeks), rest breaks, protection from unlawful deduction of wages, and whistleblowing protection. From 2026, they also gain rights around guaranteed hours and shift cancellation notice.

Employees have all worker rights plus additional protections: unfair dismissal (after 2 years), statutory redundancy pay, the right to request flexible working from day one, and enhanced family leave rights.

Self-employed individuals have neither set of rights. Some employers incorrectly classify zero hours workers as self-employed to avoid obligations. HMRC and employment tribunals will look at the reality of the working relationship (control, substitution, mutuality of obligation) rather than the contract label.

If you are unsure of your status, the gov.uk employment status checker can provide a preliminary assessment, though disputed cases may require a tribunal ruling.

Minimum Wage: Rates and Entitlements in 2026

Every hour worked on a zero hours contract must be paid at least the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage, depending on age.

From April 2026:

• Workers aged 21 and over: £12.71 per hour (National Living Wage)
• Workers aged 18 to 20: £10.00 per hour
• Workers aged 16 to 17 and apprentices in first year: £7.55 per hour

These rates apply regardless of the contract type. An employer cannot legally pay less than NMW by calling something a "training period" or including unpaid travel time between jobs. Unpaid mandatory training, unpaid uniform changing time, and unpaid travel between work sites all count as working time for NMW purposes.

Holiday Pay: How It Accrues on Zero Hours Contracts

Statutory annual leave entitlement is 5.6 weeks per year. For zero hours workers with irregular hours, this is calculated as 12.07% of hours worked (5.6 divided by 46.4 weeks = 12.07%). For every hour you work, you earn 7.24 minutes of paid annual leave.

Employers have two ways to administer this:

Rolled-up holiday pay -- A percentage (12.07%) is added to each hourly pay packet as an explicit holiday pay element. The worker does not take leave separately; they are paid for it as they earn it. This approach became lawful again for irregular hours workers following a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 (Harpur Trust v Brazel is no longer applicable in the same way following subsequent legislative clarification).

Leave accrual and booking -- The employer maintains a leave balance and the worker takes paid leave in the same way as a regular employee. This is more administratively complex for zero hours arrangements but is the approach many larger employers still use.

Importantly, holiday pay should be calculated on the worker's average earnings over a 52-week reference period (excluding unpaid weeks). It should include regular overtime, commission, and some other supplementary payments -- not just basic hourly pay.

The New Guaranteed Hours Right from 2026

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduced a right for workers with regular working patterns to request a guaranteed hours contract. This is one of the most significant zero hours reforms in decades.

The mechanism works as follows: if a worker has worked a regular pattern of hours over a 12-week reference period, they can make a formal request for a contract that reflects those regular hours. The employer must consider the request and cannot unreasonably refuse. Where the employer refuses, they must provide written reasons. Workers are protected from detriment or dismissal for making such a request.

This stops short of an automatic entitlement to a guaranteed hours contract -- the employer retains some discretion -- but it shifts the burden of justification onto the employer. In sectors like retail, hospitality, and social care where zero hours contracts are most prevalent, this reform gives workers meaningful leverage to secure more predictable income.

Shift Cancellation: Notice Rights and Compensation

Alongside the guaranteed hours reform, the 2026 Employment Rights Act provisions include protections against last-minute shift cancellations. Employers must give reasonable notice when cancelling or curtailing a shift. Where shifts are cancelled with less than the minimum notice period (set in secondary legislation), workers are entitled to compensation.

The intent is to end the practice of workers travelling to a work location, or arranging childcare, only to be sent home without pay. The compensation for a cancelled shift with inadequate notice applies to hours lost as a result.

Tips Rights Under the Workers (Allocation of Tips) Act

From October 2024, all employers must:

• Pass 100% of tips and service charges to workers with no deductions (other than tax and NI).
• Have a written tipping policy accessible to all workers.
• Distribute tips fairly and transparently.
• Maintain a record of tips received and distributed for 3 years.

Workers -- including zero hours workers -- who believe their employer is not following these rules can request a copy of the tipping record and raise a complaint with an employment tribunal. The Act covers cash tips, card tips, and service charges.

Sick Pay, Maternity Pay, and Other Entitlements

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): Zero hours workers earning an average of £125 per week (the lower earnings limit) qualify for SSP at £116.75 per week after 3 waiting days. If your earnings fluctuate, SSP eligibility is assessed on average earnings over the 8 weeks before illness.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP): Zero hours workers employed for at least 26 continuous weeks ending in the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, and earning at least £125/week average, qualify for SMP: 90% of average weekly earnings for 6 weeks, then £184.03 per week for 33 weeks.

Pension auto-enrolment: Zero hours workers aged 22 to state pension age who earn at least £10,000 per year from a single employer must be automatically enrolled in a workplace pension. Those earning between £6,240 and £9,999 can opt in and receive employer contributions.

Sources

• gov.uk: Zero hours contracts
• Employment Rights Act 2025
• Workers (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023
• HMRC: National Minimum Wage rates
• gov.uk: Holiday pay for workers without fixed hours