Zero-hours contracts: your rights, and the ban on exclusivity clauses

Zero hours does not mean zero rights. You still get real protections on a zero-hours contractA contract that offers no guaranteed hours of work. You attend only when required, and you can turn down work that's offered. You're usually a worker rather than an employee under this kind of contrac..., just not all of them.

You’re almost certainly a worker, not an employee

Zero-hours staff are usually workers in law, not employees. That distinction matters. It gives you the National Minimum WageThe legal minimum hourly rate for workers under 21. From 1 April 2026, it's £10.85 for 18 to 20-year-olds, and £8.00 for under-18s and apprentices. Tips, in any form, do not count towards it. These ..., paid holiday, rest breaks, and whistleblowingMaking a disclosure about wrongdoing in your workplace, such as a health and safety risk, a criminal act, or a miscarriage of justice. If the disclosure qualifies as protected, the law gives you signi... protection. It doesn’t give you protection against unfair dismissalA legal claim you can bring if your employer dismissed you without a fair reason or without following a fair process. You normally need two years of continuous employment to qualify, though some dismi... or the right to statutory redundancyA dismissal that occurs when your employer no longer needs the work you do, either because the business is closing, a workplace is closing, or the requirement for employees to carry out that kind of w... pay in most circumstances.

Holiday pay still applies

You build up paid holiday like anyone else. Usually that’s calculated at 12.07% of hours worked, or paid on a rolled-up basis with each payslip under the April 2024 reform for irregular-hours and part-year workers. If your payslips show no holiday payThe pay you receive for the paid annual leave you're entitled to under UK law, worth at least 5.6 weeks a year for most workers. It's usually calculated from your normal pay, though the exact method d... at all, question it.

Your employer can’t stop you working elsewhere

Exclusivity clauses in zero-hours contracts have been void since 2015. Your employer can write one into your contract. It has no legal effect. They cannot stop you taking work with another employer, and they cannot penalise you for doing so.

What’s changing

The Employment Rights Act 2025 will eventually require employers to offer zero-hours workers a guaranteed hours contract reflecting the hours they actually work. It isn’t in force yet. See our guide to the guaranteed hours reform for what’s coming and when.

If your “casual” arrangement doesn’t look casual anymore

Working regular set shifts over a long period can shift the reality of your working relationship beyond what a zero-hours label describes. See employee, worker or self-employed for what tribunals actually look at.