Create Zero Hours Contracts

A Zero Hours Contract (ZHC) is a flexible agreement between a company and an individual. It's a type of employment contract, but it's more casual because there's no guarantee of a set number of hours or any ongoing or future work.
With a Zero Hours Contract, the individual is called a 'worker' rather than an 'employee'.

Zero Hours Contracts are helpful when you need to develop an agile and flexible workforce, for example:

• if your busy times fluctuate
• if you can’t predict how many workers you might need
• if your business has seasonal peaks and troughs
• if you sometimes need to bring people in temporarily or at short notice

Zero Hours Contracts are particularly useful for certain types of business which need a pool of people who are happy to work flexibly. For example, if you hire hospitality staff for special events or seasonal work, or you use delivery drivers but don't need them permanently or full time.

Remember that someone employed on a Zero Hours Contract still has certain employment rights. In particular, they’re entitled to receive at least the National Minimum Wage, and they must not be unfairly dismissed or subject to discrimination.

A worker on a Zero Hours Contract sits somewhere between being employed and self-employed.

A Zero Hours Contract offers workers the flexibility they wouldn't have if they were bound by regular days and hours. They can turn work down if they’re busy, or accept work outside the standard 9-to-5 hours that many employers expect.

A worker on a Zero Hours Contract can work as many or as few hours as they like (as long as the work is available). They can also work for more than one employer. This type of contract gives workers more freedom, more variety, and the chance to boost their income with several jobs.

As an employer, if your workers are on Zero Hours Contracts you're not allowed to tie them into an exclusivity clause. And it's unlawful to discriminate against the worker because they're working for someone else.

Zero Hours Contracts are ideal for some circumstances but they shouldn't be used if there's a better alternative.

Sometimes it might be more appropriate to offer a part-time, full-time, fixed-term or permanent Employment Agreement or to pay overtime to existing staff if you're entering a phase you know will be busy.

When you create a Employment Agreement with SeedLegals, you can ask us for help to make the terms best suited to your business. You could also consider using agency staff if you need workers quickly or for only a short time.

You can start with a SeedLegals Zero Hours Contract template and choose which terms you need. To get started, log into SeedLegals then go to Agreements. It’s fast and incredibly simple. If you need any help, chat online with our experts.

When your document is ready, send it to your worker via SeedLegals to be signed online.

Best of all, we store your documents securely for as long as you need, so you can access them in My Documents anytime. And if you need to create a new Zero Hours Contract in the future, you can replicate the terms you’ve used before - you don’t have to start from scratch.

A Zero Hours Contract sets out terms that cover:

• what type of work might be available


• where the work will take place


• the working relationship
  The terms of the Zero Hours Contract apply separately to each shift - there’s no working relationship between the worker and the employer between shifts.


• how you’ll offer work


• the worker’s right to accept or decline work
  They have no obligation to accept work you offer them.


• pay and benefits


• holiday entitlement


• what happens if the worker is ill


• how the contract can be ended
  Details of either you or the worker can terminate the contract.

No, exclusivity clauses have been banned from Zero Hours Contracts in the UK since 2015 under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act.

People on a Zero Hours Contract are allowed to work for more than one employer - they don’t have to ask your permission, and they must not be unfairly dismissed or discriminated against if they choose to work for other businesses.

When you create a Zero Hours Contract with SeedLegals, it doesn't contain an exclusivity clause and if you use a template from elsewhere that does, it's unlawful in the UK and can't be enforced.