Rotas in hospitality were never exactly calm, but the Employment Rights Bill turns the pressure up a notch. If you run a pub, restaurant or hotel, you’re probably asking: how on earth do I keep flexibility, keep costs under control, and still comply with the end of “exploitative” zero-hours contracts by 2027?
This blog breaks down what’s actually changing for zero and low hours contracts, what “predictable working patterns” and cancellation pay mean in practice, and how to redesign your rota rules without wrecking your margin. You’ll get concrete steps, tables and checklists you can drop straight into your rota planning, plus ideas on how workforce management tools can take the heavy lifting off your managers.
Let’s start with what’s really changing in the law.
What is changing for zero and low hours contracts?
In short: the Employment Rights Bill is shifting zero hours contracts in the UK away from “take-it-or-leave-it” flexibility and towards guaranteed hours and predictable working patterns.
Under the current draft of the employment rights bill 2024, the government plans to ban exploitative zero hours contracts and end one sided flexibility by forcing employers to match contracts to the hours people actually
You will have to…
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Offer guaranteed hours after a 12-week reference period where patterns are regular.
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Provide reasonable notice of shifts instead of posting rotas at the last minute.
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Pay shift cancellation pay UK–style when you cancel, cut or move shifts at short notice.
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Treat zero and low hours workers (including many agency workers) as part of your core rota, not a risk-free buffer.
This is not a total ban on zero hours contracts hospitality employers can ever use. The bill targets exploitative use: workers who genuinely want casual, ad-hoc shifts should still be able to opt in, but you’ll need to be able to show the choice and the pattern are genuine.
When will the zero-hours and predictable pattern rules bite?
You’re not expected to fix everything tomorrow, but the clock is ticking. The official implementation roadmap shows a phased rollout: core reforms first, the ban on exploitative zero hours contracts and predictable working hours law later.
Recent government and media briefings confirm that key measures like day-one unfair dismissal rights and the zero hours reforms are planned for 2027, giving SME hospitality employers a 1–2 year window to redesign rotas and contracts.
Here’s a simple employment rights bill 2026/ 2027 timeline you can drop into your policy pack:
Why hospitality SMEs are in the firing line
Hospitality isn’t being singled out in the legislation, but the numbers make it clear why workforce management hospitality is right at the centre of this debate. Recent analysis of ONS data shows that around 27% of people on zero hours contracts work in accommodation and food, far higher than any other sector.
In plain terms: if zero hours contracts UK are being reined in, hotels, pubs and restaurants carry a big chunk of the change. At the same time, hospitality businesses are already wrestling with rising labour costs, National Insurance changes and tight margins, especially after recent Budgets and wage increases.
Add to that:
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Heavy reliance on students, seasonal staff and people topping up income with a second job.
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Volatile demand driven by weather, events and tourism.
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A legacy of using flexible hours to cope with cancellations and no-shows.
For employers, this means the employment rights bill rota changes are not a theoretical HR tweak – they will reshape how you build every hospitality rota template across sites.
Lets now dive into how you can start preparing for these upcoming changes
Step 1 – Audit how you use zero and low hours today
Start by measuring your risk, not guessing it.
Run a 12-week reference period report
The big change in the Employment Rights Bill is the move to guaranteed hours after a 12-week reference period for qualifying zero and low hours workers.
So your first job is simple: work out what people actually worked over the last 12 weeks.
- Pull your last 12 weeks of rota (scheduled hours) and timesheet (worked hours) data per worker: total hours, number of shifts, and average weekly hours.
- Check for anyone on zero hours contracts UK or “minimum hours” contracts who has a clear pattern (for example, 3–4 shifts almost every week).
- Calculate their average weekly hours over the 12-week reference period – this is your starting point for a guaranteed hours contract under the employment rights bill hospitality
- Compare scheduled vs worked hours to see how often you over- or under-schedule people. This tells you if your hospitality rota planning is realistic or if you routinely trim shifts at the last minute.
- For each venue or department, total up the “regular” hours worked by zero and low hours workers. That’s your future guaranteed-hours exposure when the employment rights bill rota changes land.
List everyone on zero or low hours and who will qualify
Once you’ve got the numbers, you need a clean list of zero and low hours workers. Legal commentary on the employment rights bill 2024 draws a distinction between:
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Zero hours contracts – no guaranteed hours, work is offered entirely at the employer’s discretion.
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Low hours contracts – a small number of guaranteed hours, but the worker often does significantly more in practice.
Both groups are in scope for the ban on exploitative zero hours contracts, and both can trigger a duty to offer guaranteed hours after a reference period.
The government has also signalled that agency workers will be covered, to stop employers simply outsourcing zero hours contracts hospitality-style to temp agencies.
Build a simple table like this for each site:
Anyone with a regular pattern over the 12-week reference period goes into your “qualifying” bucket. This is the group you’ll prioritise when redesigning contracts under the UK hospitality employment rights bill changes.
Map where you rely on last-minute changes and unpaid cancellations
The predictable working hours law side of the ERB is all about reasonable notice of shifts and cancellation pay for cancelled shifts. The government’s own impact assessment sets out the plan: notice of shift patterns, and compensation where shifts are cancelled at short notice.
To see how exposed you are, export a recent period (for example, 8–12 weeks) and log:
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Shifts cancelled on the same day.
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Shifts cancelled the day before.
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Staff sent home early because trade was quiet.
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Overbooked rotas fixed by telling people not to come in, without pay.
Turn that into a simple red flag checklist:
Every “yes” is a cost and compliance risk once shift cancellation pay UK rules kick in. UKHospitality has already warned that these changes are “not without cost” for the sector, calling out the need to manage cancellations carefully.
Step 2 – Redesign your rota rules for predictable working patterns
Now turn legal duties into simple rules your rota can actually follow.
Choose standard contract bands by role
Once you know the hours people really work, you can design practical contract bands that line up with your demand. Legal and HR guidance suggests employers will need to offer guaranteed hours that “reflect the number of hours [workers] regularly work” in the reference period, not just a random number in the contract.
For hospitality rota planning, that usually means a small set of contract bands per role. For example:
Your 12-week data tells you which band each zero and low hours worker should fall into. That way, the move to guaranteed hours contract terms is grounded in reality, not guesswork.
More stable hours usually mean better retention and fewer recruitment costs – something every workforce management hospitality leader cares about.
Set how far in advance rotas are published and when they ‘lock’
The ERB and related predictable working patterns UK reforms are driven by a simple idea: people should know their shifts in good time, and not have them changed at the last minute without consequences. Government documents talk about reasonable notice of shifts and compensation where shifts are changed or cancelled at short notice, aimed squarely at ending one sided flexibility.
Most commentators expect the detail to land in regulations, but a safe working assumption for hospitality SMEs is:
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Rotas published at least 14 days in advance.
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A lock point (for example, 48 hours before a shift) after which cancellations trigger some level of cancellation pay.
Design a simple cancellation pay rule you can afford
The predictable working hours law piece will also require cancellation pay for cancelled shifts. The government’s impact assessment is clear: workers should get compensation when shifts are cancelled at short notice, but the exact thresholds and amounts will be set in secondary legislation.
Don’t wait for every detail to be final before you model a policy. A simple, defensible approach many advisers are discussing looks like this:
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Pay 100% of the shift if cancelled on the day.
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Pay 50% of the shift if cancelled 24–48 hours before.
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No pay if cancelled more than 48 hours before and the worker had reasonable notice of the rota.
Step 3 – Use workforce management logic to turn demand into compliant rotas
You can’t guarantee hours without forecasting the hours you’ll need.
Build demand forecasts for slow, steady and peak trade
The employment rights bill puts pressure on zero hours contracts, but the real fix is better forecasting, not guesswork.
Start by splitting your week into 3–4 demand levels based on:
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Historic sales / covers per hour.
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Bookings and events.
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Seasonality and weather-sensitive days (terrace, beer garden, big match days).
Then build one staffing template and rota template for each level:
These staffing templates then plug straight into your hospitality rota template for each venue. As staff scheduling law changes UK and predictable working patterns UK rules take effect, you’ll already know the minimum hours you need to honour guaranteed hours contracts without blowing your labour cost.
Step 4 – Update contracts, policies and manager playbooks
Your rota rules need backing from paperwork and training.
Refresh contracts and zero-hours clauses
Most existing zero-hours contracts were written for old rules: “no guaranteed hours, no pay if we cancel you”. That clashes directly with the employment rights bill.
You’ll need to:
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Add a guaranteed hours clause linked to a reference period (expected to be 12 weeks)
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Include wording about how often you’ll review hours (for example, every 6 or 12 months).
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Define when and how cancellation pay is triggered.
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Make clear when a worker is genuinely casual and can decline guaranteed hours if they prefer flexibility.
Update rota, cancellation and communication policies
Contracts are only part of the story. You also need clear, written rota and cancellation policies that show how you’ll apply the employment rights bill checklist for hospitality day to day.
A simple policy checklist for SME hospitality employers:
- Rota publication deadline – e.g. rota must be published 14 days before the week starts.
- Lock point – e.g. no changes within 48 hours of a shift without manager approval and a logged reason.
- Cancellation pay rules – who qualifies, what counts as “short notice”, how payment is calculated.
- Change request process – how staff can request changes and how approvals are recorded.
- Communication expectations – how and where rotas are shared (app, email, noticeboard) and how updates are notified.
Being transparent about these rules helps retention and reduces the risk that zero and low hours workers claim they’ve been treated unfairly.
Final employment rights bill checklist for hospitality SMEs 2026–2027
If you want one tool to support most points on this Employment Rights Bill checklist for hospitality (from the 12-week audit to rota templates and time tracking) you can centralise it in Shiftbase and cut down on manual admin while staying ready for the new rules. Try Shiftbase now for free for 14 days.
