Zero-Hours Contracts in Hospitality — What Changes and When

From 2027, employers must offer workers on zero-hours or low-guaranteed-hours contracts a contract that reflects their actual working pattern, based on a reference period. The reference period is expected to be 12 weeks under secondary regulations, though exact details and the commencement date are not yet confirmed. The Government is still consulting on the precise mechanics for seasonal workers.

The core obligation is this: if a worker has worked a regular or recurring pattern of hours during the reference period, you must offer them a contract that guarantees at least those hours and that working pattern. You cannot keep someone on a zero-hours contract indefinitely when they have actually been working 25 hours a week every week for three months.

Workers can decline the offer and remain on their current zero-hours arrangement if they prefer flexibility. The obligation is to offer, not to force. But if a worker accepts, the contract terms cannot be less favourable than those offered.

The reference period is the window of time over which you assess the worker's average hours. For most businesses this will be a rolling 12-week look-back at the end of each "assessment point" — likely every 12 weeks in practice.

For a bar worker who covers evening shifts Tuesday to Saturday consistently over 12 weeks, their guaranteed hours offer must reflect those 5 evenings. For a hotel receptionist who works variable shifts but averages 32 hours per week, the offer must reflect roughly 32 hours per week.

The thorny issue for hospitality is seasonality. A seafront restaurant that is fully staffed June to September but runs a skeleton crew in winter has a genuinely variable need. The Government has acknowledged this and the secondary regulations are expected to include provisions for seasonal patterns. The most likely approach is that the reference period will be assessed against comparable periods — comparing summer 2026 against summer 2025, for example — rather than a simple trailing 12-week average.

The regulations are not fully finalised at the time of writing. Check ACAS and GOV.UK for updated guidance as October 2026 approaches.

A separate but related change coming in October 2026 is the right for zero-hours workers to receive reasonable notice of shifts and reasonable notice of cancellation. Workers will also have a right to compensation where a shift is cancelled or curtailed at short notice.

For hospitality, where last-minute cancellations (due to low bookings, weather, or event cancellations) are common, this is a significant operational change. The exact compensation rates and notice periods are being set by secondary legislation. Operators should plan on a minimum of 48–72 hours' notice as a reasonable starting point, with financial compensation for cancellations below that threshold.

The hospitality sector employs a disproportionately high number of zero-hours workers. A 2024 ONS survey found that over 40% of zero-hours workers worked in hospitality, accommodation, and food service. The October 2026 changes will affect:

• Pubs and bars — evening and weekend staff who have been working consistent patterns for months will be entitled to offers of guaranteed shifts.
• Restaurants — front-of-house staff on rolling zero-hours arrangements who reliably cover lunch and dinner service will need to be assessed after each reference period.
• Hotels — housekeeping and reception staff with consistent patterns will need offers of guaranteed contracts. Seasonal resort hotels will need to engage with the seasonality provisions.
• Catering and events — genuinely sporadic event catering, where workers do isolated jobs with no regular pattern, may fall outside the guaranteed hours trigger altogether. Keep records carefully.

1. Audit your zero-hours workforce. List every worker on a zero-hours or low-guaranteed-hours contract. Note how many weeks they've been working, and what their actual hours have looked like. If you have workers who have been on zero-hours for 6–12+ months and working consistent patterns, they are your highest-priority group.
2. Start keeping better records now. The reference period assessment requires accurate records of hours worked. If your rota management is informal, move to a system that produces auditable records — even a simple spreadsheet beats memory.
3. Think about your staffing model. For workers who are already effectively permanent, it may be simpler to proactively convert them to part-time contracts now, on terms that suit you both, rather than wait for the obligation to force the issue with less control over terms.
4. Review your shift cancellation practices. If you regularly cancel shifts at short notice, build a process to give maximum possible notice, and consider how you'd handle compensation if regulations require it.
5. Watch for the final regulations. The detail on seasonal workers and compensation rates will come via secondary legislation. Sign up to ACAS updates and check GOV.UK regularly as October approaches.