ShiftLens

Zero-hours and low-hours shift rights: what's coming

The Employment Rights Act 2025 gives people on zero-hours and low-hours contracts new rights over their shifts. These rights aren't in force yet, and the details will be set in regulations that haven't been made.

ShiftLens provides guidance, not legal advice. This guide is a summary for England, Scotland and Wales. Some rules have exceptions, and contracts or workforce agreements can change some of the details. For advice on your situation, contact Acas or an employment solicitor.

The new rights

  • Reasonable notice of shifts. Employers will have to give workers reasonable notice of the shifts they ask them to work.
  • Payment for short-notice changes. Employers will have to pay workers when they cancel, move or cut short a shift at short notice.
  • Guaranteed hours. Workers will have a right to be offered guaranteed hours.

Where things stand

These rights aren't in force yet. The Act became law in 2025, but these parts have so far been brought in only so the government can consult and make the detailed regulations.

The government consulted on the details from 2 June to 25 August 2026 and is now looking at the responses. The details, such as how much notice counts as reasonable, how much workers will be paid for a cancelled shift and who will qualify, will be set out in regulations that haven't been made yet.

For payment when a shift is cancelled, moved or cut short, the Act does say that “short notice” can't be set at more than 7 days.

A roadmap published by the government in July 2025 said these changes would come in during 2027. No start date has been set.

Who they'll cover

The Act lets the regulations define who is covered, including workers whose contracts guarantee no more than a set number of hours. So the rights are expected to cover low-hours contracts as well as zero-hours ones. The number of hours hasn't been set.

What you can do now

Nothing changes legally until the regulations are made and brought into force. If you rely on zero-hours or low-hours staff, it may help to start noting when you tell staff about their shifts and any changes, so you know how much notice you usually give.

Today's rules on rest, breaks and hours already apply to zero-hours workers. See rest between shifts and rest breaks.

Check your rota for this

ShiftLens checks today's working time rules. We'll add checks for these rights once the details are final. It's free, there's no sign-up, and your rota never leaves your browser.

Check your rota

Sources

Employment Rights Act 2025, section 1; section 2; section 3; S.I. 2026/3, regulation 2; gov.uk: the consultation; gov.uk: the July 2025 roadmap