Zero-hour contract measures to include agency workers
March 20, 2025Categorised in: News
On 6 March 2025, the government announced a significant number of proposed amendments to the Employment Rights Bill, and published the responses to its consultation on the application of zero-hours contracts measures to agency workers. Kareena Prescott, employment law specialist and adviser to HIVE360 Support Services Ltd and its clients, explains the update and considers its implications.
Employment Rights Bill
The Employment Rights Bill (ERB) already includes proposals for low and zero-hours workers covering three key areas:
- A right for low and zero-hours workers who satisfy certain conditions, to be offered guaranteed hours at the end of a relevant reference period that reflects the hours worked during that reference period.
- A right for zero-hours and other specified workers to be given reasonable notice of shifts and changes in shifts.
- A right for zero-hours and other specified workers to payment each time a work shift is cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice.
Amendments to ERB
Last week (6 March 2025) the Government confirmed it will table amendments to the ERB to include a framework for the extension of the application of each of these measures to agency workers.
How the measures will work in practice must await secondary legislation, but what the consultation response does provide is some information on what this could entail:
- Responsibility for providing the agency worker with reasonable notice of shifts will be on both the employment agency and the end hirer – with the tribunal able to apportion liability based on the responsibility of each party in a given case.
- Responsibility to pay any short notice cancellation or curtailment payments will be on the employment agency but they will be allowed to recoup this from the hirer where they have arrangements with the hirer covering this.
- The Secretary of State will have the right to publish regulations stipulating the form and manner in which an agency worker should receive notifications of shifts, cancellations or curtailments.
- Responsibility to offer guaranteed hours to qualifying agency workers will fall on the end hirer.
- There will be an exception to the requirement to offer guaranteed hours where there is a genuine temporary work need (such as seasonal demand).
- The current system of extended hire periods and transfer fees under The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 will continue to apply.
For the full response, see:
Kareena Prescott is the Founder of C2E Law, and specialises in providing commercial, no-nonsense advice and guiding companies through complex legal landscapes, focusing on the recruitment sector. She has represented both Respondents and Claimants in over 200 Tribunals. A commercial Employment Law & Tax Adviser with over 20 years’ experience, Kareena worked at a top 10 law firm for eight years. In particular, she provides specialist niche advice to the Recruitment and Umbrella sectors and other Respondent businesses.
