Section 27BJ: Right to reasonable notice of a shift, Employment Rights Act 1996

An employer must give to a worker reasonable notice of a shift that the employer requests or requires the worker to work if—

the worker is (or is to be) employed by the employer under a zero hours contract, or

the worker is (or is to be) employed by the employer under a worker's contract of a specified description that requires the employer to make some work available to the worker but does not provide on what days and at what times, or in accordance with what pattern of days and times, that work is to be done by the worker,

and the shift is to be worked under the contract referred to in paragraph (a) or (b).

An employer must give to a worker reasonable notice of a shift that the employer requests or requires the worker to work if—

the worker is (or is to be) employed by the employer under a worker's contract of a specified description that requires the employer to make some work available to the worker,

the contract provides on what days and at what times, or in accordance with what pattern of days and times, that work, or some of that work, is to be done by the worker, and

the shift is to be worked under that contract but no part of it corresponds to the time of a shift provided for by the contract as described in paragraph (b).

An employer must give to an individual reasonable notice of a shift that the employer requests the individual to work if—

the individual would, if they worked the shift, be employed by the employer under a worker's contract, and

the worker's contract would be entered into in accordance with a zero hours arrangement that is in place between the employer and the individual.

It is to be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, that notice of a shift is not reasonable notice for the purposes of subsections (1) to (3) if it is given less than a specified amount of time before the shift is due to start.

Regulations under subsection (1)(b) or (2)(a) may, in particular, specify a description of worker's contract by reference to—

it being a worker's contract that entitles a worker to be paid no more than a specified amount;

it being a worker's contract that requires an employer to make work available to a worker for no more than a specified number of hours.

Where—

the conditions in subsection (2)(a) and (b) are met in relation to a worker and a worker's contract,

the worker is to work (or is working) a shift under that contract all or part of which corresponds to the time of a shift (a "guaranteed shift") provided for by the contract as described in subsection (2)(b),

the employer requests or requires the worker to start earlier, or end later, than is provided for by the contract (as described in subsection (2)(b)) in relation to the guaranteed shift, and

the earlier start or later end is to result in an additional number of hours being worked above the number of hours to be worked in the guaranteed shift,

the additional hours are to be treated for the purposes of this Chapter as a separate shift (and accordingly as one that meets the condition in subsection (2)(c)).

For the purposes of this Chapter—

"employer", in relation to an individual and a shift, includes a person by whom the individual would be (or would have been) employed if the individual worked the shift;
"worker", in relation to a shift, includes an individual who would be (or would have been) a worker if the individual worked the shift.

In this section, "notice of a shift" means notice of how many hours are to be worked and when the shift is to start and end.

Section 27BJ: Right to reasonable notice of a shift

Discussed in

About this text