Zero Hours Contracts: Your Rights and What Happens if You Are Dismissed

Zero Hours Does Not Mean Zero Rights

Zero hours contracts are widely misunderstood. Many workers on zero hours arrangements believe they have no employment rights because they have no guaranteed hours. This is wrong. The rights available to a zero hours worker depend on their employment status -- specifically whether they are a worker, an employee, or genuinely self-employed. Most zero hours arrangements create worker status at minimum, and many create employee status despite the absence of guaranteed hours.

Worker Status vs Employee Status

A worker is someone who works under a contract personally to perform services for another party who is not a client or customer of a business run by the worker. Almost all zero hours arrangements meet this definition. Workers are entitled to: national minimum wage, paid annual leave (5.6 weeks), rest breaks, protection from unlawful deduction from wages, whistleblowing protection, and protection from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

An employee has all worker rights plus additional protections: unfair dismissal rights (currently after two years, reducing to six months from January 2027), the right to a written statement of terms, maternity, paternity, and parental leave rights, and statutory redundancy pay. Whether a zero hours worker is an employee depends on the reality of the relationship -- not what the contract says. A tribunal looks at mutuality of obligation, control, and whether the person is integrated into the business. Many zero hours workers who work regularly for the same employer are employees in law even if their contract says otherwise.

When Your Shifts Stop

If your employer simply stops offering you shifts, this may amount to dismissal in law. For employees, dismissal includes any act by the employer that terminates the employment relationship. If you have worked regular shifts for a sustained period and shifts suddenly stop without explanation, a tribunal may find this constitutes a dismissal -- and if you have employee status, you can claim unfair dismissal.

The key question is whether there was a reasonable expectation of continuing work based on the history of the arrangement. A worker who has worked 40 hours a week for two years is in a very different position from one who has worked occasional shifts over a few months. The longer and more regular the engagement, the stronger the argument that a sudden cessation of work constitutes dismissal.

ERA 2025 -- Zero Hours Changes Coming

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces significant new rights for zero hours workers. Employers will be required to offer guaranteed hours contracts to zero hours workers who work regular patterns over a reference period. The details of the reference period and the threshold for the offer are to be confirmed in secondary legislation, but the direction is clear: the government intends to reduce the use of zero hours arrangements as a means of avoiding employment protections. The implementation date for these provisions has not yet been confirmed but is expected in 2026 or 2027.

Discrimination and Whistleblowing

Zero hours workers are protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 from day one. If your shifts were reduced or stopped because of a protected characteristic -- pregnancy, disability, race, age, sex, or any of the nine protected characteristics -- you have a discrimination claim. Similarly, if you raised a concern about health and safety or another protected disclosure and your shifts were then stopped, you have a whistleblowing detriment claim. These rights do not depend on employee status.

What to Do

If your shifts have been stopped or dramatically reduced, write to your employer immediately asking for an explanation. Ask whether you are considered to be an employee or a worker and what your employment status is. Ask whether there is a genuine reason for the reduction in shifts. Keep records of all shifts worked, all communications, and any pattern of work over the period of the arrangement. Contact ACAS if you believe the treatment is connected to a protected characteristic or a disclosure you have made.