The label ‘zero hours contract’ does not determine your legal rights — your actual employment status does. Many people on zero hours contracts have full employment rights, including redundancy pay.
Employee, Worker, or Self-Employed?
| Status | Redundancy pay | Unfair dismissal | Notice | Holiday pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee (2+ years) | Yes | Yes | Statutory minimum | Yes |
| Employee (under 2 years) | No | No (except auto-unfair) | Statutory minimum | Yes |
| Worker | No | No | No statutory minimum | Yes |
| Self-employed | No | No | No | No |
Most zero hours contract workers are at minimum ‘workers’, and many are employees in law. The contract title does not override the legal reality of how the relationship works.
How Continuous Employment Works for Zero Hours
Continuous employment is not broken by:
- Weeks with no hours worked if the relationship continues
- Temporary cessation of work (for regular seasonal/irregular workers)
- Custom and practice suggesting the arrangement will resume
If you have worked for the same employer on and off for 2+ years with no formal break in the employment relationship, you likely have continuous employment.
Calculating Average Weekly Pay
For redundancy purposes, weekly pay is calculated as an average of the 12 weeks immediately before the redundancy notice, excluding any weeks where no pay was earned. This protects against artificially low calculations but also means a period of lower hours before notice can reduce the average.
Claiming Your Rights
If you believe you are an employee and have been made redundant without pay:
- Write to the employer asserting employee status and claiming redundancy pay
- If refused, apply to an Employment Tribunal within 6 months of the redundancy date
- ACAS Early Conciliation is required first
Continuous Service on Zero-Hours Contracts
The key challenge for zero-hours workers claiming redundancy rights is proving continuous employment for the required 2 years. For zero-hours workers:
- Continuous employment is not broken by individual gaps between assignments if there is an overarching employment contract or if the gaps are covered by a customary or regular arrangement
- In practice, many zero-hours workers find it difficult to prove continuous service because the employment contract may not provide guarantees of work, creating genuine gaps
Recent case law (e.g. the Autoclenz and Uber cases) has established that economic reality matters — if in practice you worked regularly for the same employer over a period, tribunals may find continuity even where the contract says otherwise.
If you have worked consistently for the same employer for 2+ years (even on zero-hours), keep records of all shifts worked, payslips, and any communications that show a regular working pattern. ACAS can help assess whether you have a strong claim.