Zero hours contracts in hospitality: the rules now and the changes coming

Zero hours contracts run through hospitality. Students who want Saturdays only, parents who can do school hours, the casual pool you call when a wedding comes in. The government's own factsheet names accommodation and food as one of the sectors that relies on them most.

They're still legal. What's changing is that the Employment Rights Act 2025 will give zero-hours and low-hours workers new rights, planned for 2027. This guide covers what the law says today, what's coming and what's still undecided, and how to run a rota now that won't trip you up later.

Rules here are for England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own employment law.

The rules in force today

What a zero hours contract is

GOV.UK describes it as a casual agreement where the employer doesn't guarantee any work. You can offer shifts when you need people, and the worker doesn't have to accept them.

You can't stop them working elsewhere

Exclusivity clauses are unenforceable in zero hours contracts and in contracts where the worker earns at or below the lower earnings limit. Your zero-hours bartender can pick up shifts at the pub down the road and ignore any clause that says otherwise.

They get the core statutory rights

Everyone on a zero hours contract gets statutory employment rights. Depending on how the arrangement works in practice, they'll be a "worker" or an "employee", which affects some rights (for example, statutory sick pay is for employees). At a minimum, zero-hours staff get:

• The minimum wage for every hour worked, including training and required tasks like opening checks. See our minimum wage 2026 guide.
• Paid holiday. In Great Britain, for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours workers accrue 12.07% of hours worked each pay period. You can pay rolled-up holiday pay instead if it's shown separately on the payslip. Our holiday pay guide explains both.
• Rest breaks and working time limits. See UK working time rules for hospitality.
• A written statement from day one. The principal statement of terms must be given on the first day. It should cover pay, hours (and whether they can change), holiday and any compulsory training. GOV.UK also suggests stating clearly how work is offered and whether it can be turned down.
• Health and safety protection, the same as anyone else on the premises.

Statutory sick pay from day one

Since 6 April 2026, SSP has been paid from the first day of sickness and the lower earnings limit has gone. Zero-hours staff who are employees and earn a small amount each week can now qualify. SSP is £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

There's no legal minimum notice for shifts yet

Right now, GB law doesn't set a minimum notice period for offering, changing or cancelling a zero-hours shift. Whatever your contract says applies. The old plan to give workers a right to request a predictable working pattern (the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023) was repealed on 6 January 2026 without ever coming into force.

What's coming: the three new rights

The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates three rights for zero-hours workers and for workers whose guaranteed hours are below a threshold still to be set. The government expects them to start in 2027. None of this is in force yet, and the details will be set in regulations. Check gov.uk for the latest.

1. An offer of guaranteed hours

You'll have to offer qualifying workers a contract with guaranteed hours that reflect the hours they've regularly worked over a reference period. To qualify, a worker will need to have worked during the reference period and meet "regularity" requirements still to be defined.

The worker can say no. A student who wants to keep the flexibility of zero hours can stay on zero hours.

2. Reasonable notice of shifts

You'll have to give reasonable notice of shifts and of changes you make to them. Regulations will set an amount of notice that's "presumed reasonable", plus factors a tribunal should consider. It only applies to changes you make. If two staff agree to swap a shift between themselves, that's not on you.

3. Payment for short-notice cancellations, cuts and moves

If you cancel a shift, cut it short or move it at short notice, you'll owe the worker a payment. If the worker cancels, doesn't turn up or swaps with a colleague, no payment is due.

The same rights for agency workers

These rights will also cover agency workers. Hirers will make guaranteed hours offers by default, and agencies will make the short-notice payments, which they can recoup from the hirer.

What's still undecided

The government consulted on the detail from 2 June to 25 August 2026. As of October 2026 it's still analysing responses. The consultation shows the range of options on the table:

Don't rewrite contracts around any of these numbers yet. They're options, not law.

What hospitality operators should do now

You can't comply with rules that don't exist yet, but you can get ready.

1. Know who works regular hours. Pull the last three months of rotas. Anyone on zero hours who works roughly the same hours every week is the person most likely to be offered guaranteed hours. Talk to them now; some will want a contract, some won't.
2. Publish rotas earlier. Whatever "reasonable notice" ends up meaning, a rota out two weeks ahead will look better than one out on Friday for Monday. Start tracking how much notice you actually give.
3. Cut down on short-notice cancellations. If you regularly send people home early on quiet nights, that habit will cost money once short-notice payments start. Build the rota to forecast and labour budget rather than over-staffing and trimming on the night.
4. Separate staff swaps from manager changes. Keep a record of who initiated each change. A worker swap won't trigger payments; a manager cancellation will.
5. Fix the basics already in force. Day-one written statements, 12.07% holiday accrual (or properly shown rolled-up holiday pay), day-one SSP, minimum wage for all working time.
6. Don't treat zero hours as a way round the rules. No exclusivity clauses, and remember zero-hours staff don't have to accept the shifts you offer.

Common mistakes with zero hours staff

• Unpaid "quick" tasks. Opening checks, cash-ups, staff meetings and training are working time and must be paid at least the minimum wage.
• Forgetting holiday. Zero hours doesn't mean zero holiday.
• No written statement. It's a day-one requirement for workers as well as employees.
• Assuming no one qualifies for SSP. Since April 2026 the earnings threshold has gone.
• Calling someone "casual" when they work like an employee. Status depends on how the arrangement works in practice, not the label on the contract.

Where ShiftComplete helps

The new rules will reward venues that plan ahead and change less on the day. ShiftComplete is built for exactly that. Your casual and zero-hours staff set their availability on their phone weeks ahead (available, partial or off, with a note), so you're building around people who actually want the shifts. Add the events that change demand, weight the people you want on, and ShiftComplete builds a draft rota in seconds that's fair across the team. Publish it and it's on every staff member's phone under "My rota" and can be emailed.

Labour cost shows as you build, so you can staff to budget from the start instead of cutting shifts at 6pm. Split shifts (up to four blocks a day) and staff areas like Bar, Kitchen and Floor show who's working where. Holidays are recorded so you don't rota someone who's off, and staff can request holiday from their phone for a manager to approve.

If you switch on clocking in and out, staff clock in and out on their phone or the shared tablet and you see hours actually worked against the rota. That gives you a running record of who really works regular hours, which is exactly the information you'll need when guaranteed hours offers start, and you can download hours as a spreadsheet with a total per person for payroll.

£1.49 per staff member per month, every feature included, free for 60 days with no card needed.

This guide is general information, not legal advice: for a specific case, speak to Acas or an employment law adviser.