Zero-hours contracts: pay, calls and fixed hours

What does your contract actually say?

Check whether there is an employment contract and whether zero hours are agreed, or whether you actually have a min-max contract. Record whether employment is temporary or permanent, which cao applies and whether a pay-exclusion clause is included. The heading does not decide everything. Compare the agreement with reality: working the same shifts every week may justify claiming a greater scope of work. List hours worked per week.

Calls must arrive in time

The main rule for on-call agreements is four calendar days’ notice; a cao can shorten that within statutory limits. You generally do not have to accept a late call. Keep evidence of how and when you were called. Agree the channel for calls clearly, so an informal group message is not quietly treated as an accepted shift. If you do work, that work must of course be paid correctly. Special sector rules need separate checking.

A cancelled shift may still need payment

If a call is withdrawn or changed within the applicable notice period, pay for the original call may remain due. Save the original schedule before planning software removes the shift. Frame your question concretely: which shift, call time, change time and number of hours? Keep separate lists of hours worked and cancelled shifts. A general payslip showing only actual hours otherwise conceals the missing entitlement.

Three hours’ pay and exclusion of pay are different rules

For a zero-hours contract, each call can give entitlement to at least three hours’ pay even if you work less. A written exclusion of pay can generally apply only in the first six months; extension by cao is possible only in certain circumstances. This does not mean every unworked hour must be paid without further assessment. Consider availability, the normal work pattern and why you were not deployed. Ask which specific rule the employer applies to your pay.

Fixed hours after twelve months and the statutory presumption

After twelve months of on-call employment, the employer generally must offer a fixed scope of work based on the previous twelve-month average. Another instrument is the presumption of working hours based on an average over three months. That presumption can be rebutted, for example for an unrepresentative peak. Do not confuse the routes. An overview over both three and twelve months clarifies your question and how to substantiate it. The offer must follow within one month after the first on-call year. If you decline, the employer must offer again every twelve months; retain the refusal and the next offer date.

Illness and holiday are part of employment

Follow the sickness-reporting procedure and keep evidence. Sick pay can depend on the call, usual work pattern and applicable rules. Do not assume an employer can simply stop scheduling you when you fall ill. Holiday hours and holiday allowance must also accrue or be correctly accounted for. With an all-in hourly rate, it must be clear which amounts pay which entitlements. Request a breakdown if the payslip shows only one total.

Resignation and future changes

A short employee notice period linked to the call-notice period may apply to zero-hours contracts. A temporary contract must, however, permit interim termination. Check this before stopping shifts. The More Security for Flexible Workers Act changes on-call contracts at a later commencement; the government information consulted indicates 2028 here. A future band-width contract therefore does not automatically invalidate or terminate your current zero-hours contract in October 2026.

Practical example: less work without explanation

For ten months you have worked roughly twenty hours weekly. After a disagreement, you disappear from the schedule. Keep the previous three months, ask in writing why you are not deployed and state your availability. Have someone assess whether relying on usual working hours and continued pay is appropriate. After twelve months, the separate offer obligation also arises. The example shows why “zero hours on paper” is not a sufficient answer to whether regularly worked hours can be taken away.

Practical checklist

• Keep original calls and every schedule change.
• Check call notice, the cao and any pay exclusion.
• Calculate average hours over three and twelve months.
• Request an itemised explanation of missing pay and holiday accrual.