The Employment Rights Bill proposes the following:
- 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 workers to be given reasonable notice of shifts and changes in shifts.
- A right for zero hours workers to receive payment each time a work shift is cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice.
The Government has now confirmed that it is tabling amendments to the Bill to set out the framework for agency workers regarding zero-hours contracts:
- Agency workers will be granted the right to be offered guaranteed hours by the end user. There will be an exception where there is a genuine temporary work need (such as seasonal demand).
- Both the end user and agency will be responsible for providing an agency worker with reasonable notice of shifts.
- Agencies will be responsible for making payments to workers which result from short-notice cancellations.
- Agencies and hirers will remain free to negotiate terms which may allow these costs to be recouped from the hirer where the hirer was in fact responsible for the change.
To find out more about how the Employment Rights Bill could effect you, please contact our Employment Team on 0345 646 0406 or complete an online enquiry form, and a member of the team will be in touch.