Can I Dismiss Someone on a Zero Hours Contract?
Zero hours does not mean no rights. Dismissing a zero hours worker carries the same legal obligations as dismissing any other employee, and in some respects more risk. This guide covers employment status, fair dismissal process, automatic unfair dismissal traps, and what ERA 2025 changes about zero hours contracts from 2027 onwards.
Employer-Side Advice Only
CIPD Qualified
ERA 2025 Updated
North West BasedYes, you can dismiss someone on a zero hours contract, but the label on the contract does not determine their rights. What determines their rights is their employment status. Many zero hours workers have established employee status through their working pattern, even if the contract says otherwise. If they are employees, all the same dismissal rules apply: fair reason, fair process, and from January 2027, unfair dismissal protection after six months’ service. ERA 2025 also makes it automatically unfair to dismiss a zero hours worker for asserting their new guaranteed hours rights from 2027.
The First Question: What Is Their Employment Status?
Before thinking about how to dismiss a zero hours worker, the more important question is what their employment status actually is. This determines what rights they have and therefore what process you must follow.
Under UK law there are three employment statuses: employee, worker, and genuinely self-employed. Most zero hours contract arrangements create worker status at minimum, and many, despite what the contract says, have developed into employee relationships through the reality of how the working arrangement operates.
Have the fullest set of employment rights, including unfair dismissal protection (currently after two years, reducing to six months from January 2027), the right to statutory redundancy pay, and the right to notice. To dismiss an employee fairly you need a potentially fair reason and a fair procedure. The fact they are on a zero hours contract changes nothing about this.
Have a more limited set of rights, including the right to the National Minimum Wage, holiday pay, and protection from unlawful deduction from wages. Workers do not currently have unfair dismissal rights unless they also qualify as employees. However, workers do have protection from automatically unfair dismissal in certain circumstances, including for asserting statutory rights, for whistleblowing, and from 2027, for asserting their guaranteed hours rights under ERA 2025.
When Does a Zero Hours Worker Become an Employee?
Employment status is determined by the reality of the working relationship, not the label on the contract. If a zero hours worker has been working regular, consistent hours for a sustained period, has an expectation of continued work, and the employer has an expectation that work will be offered and accepted, a tribunal may well find that an employment relationship has developed, regardless of what the zero hours contract says.
Before dismissing any zero hours worker, assess their actual working pattern. If they have been working regularly for months or years, treat them as an employee for the purposes of the dismissal process. Getting this wrong is an expensive mistake.
The Same Fair Dismissal Rules Apply
Once you have established that the zero hours worker is an employee , or that they may have developed employee status, the dismissal process is identical to any other employee dismissal.
Conduct: the worker has behaved in a way that justifies dismissal
Capability: the worker is unable to perform the role to the required standard
Redundancy: the role is no longer required
Statutory illegality: continued engagement would be unlawful
Some other substantial reason
Proper investigation before any dismissal decision
Written invitation to a formal hearing with reasonable notice
Opportunity to be accompanied
A genuinely open-minded decision-making process
Confirmation of dismissal in writing
A genuine right of appeal
The fact that the worker has no guaranteed hours, or that you have simply stopped offering them shifts, does not substitute for a fair dismissal process. Stopping offering shifts to a zero hours worker without following a proper dismissal process is one of the most common mistakes North West employers make , and it is treated as a dismissal without process.
You Cannot Just Stop Offering Shifts
This is the critical point that most employers on zero hours contracts misunderstand. Many believe that because they have no obligation to offer work under a zero hours contract, they can simply stop calling someone in without any process. This is wrong in two important ways.
Stopping offering shifts is a dismissal, specifically, it is likely to be treated as a repudiation of the contract or a constructive dismissal, and if they have the qualifying service period, they can bring an unfair dismissal claim. The absence of a formal termination letter does not protect the employer.
Stopping offering shifts may still give rise to claims for holiday pay, unlawful deduction from wages, or detriment if the reason for stopping shifts was one of the protected reasons , asserting a statutory right, whistleblowing, or from 2027, asserting guaranteed hours rights.
The only safe way to end the engagement of a zero hours worker is to follow a proper process, document the reason, and where required, issue a formal termination with notice. Take advice before simply letting a zero hours arrangement lapse.
Automatic Unfair Dismissal: Specific Risks for Zero Hours Workers
Certain dismissal reasons are automatically unfair regardless of service length. Several of these apply with particular force to zero hours workers:
Asserting a Statutory Right
If a zero hours worker raises a concern about their rights, asks about their holiday entitlement, or queries whether they are receiving the correct pay, and you stop offering them shifts in response, that is automatic unfair dismissal. No qualifying service required.
Exclusivity Clauses
Zero hours contracts cannot contain exclusivity clauses preventing the worker from working for other employers. Any dismissal or detriment for working elsewhere in breach of an exclusivity clause is automatically unfair with no qualifying service requirement.
Whistleblowing
Dismissing a zero hours worker for making a protected disclosure is automatically unfair with no qualifying service threshold.
ERA 2025 Guaranteed Hours
Employers must offer a guaranteed hours contract to zero hours workers who have worked regular consistent hours over a 12-week reference period. It will be automatically unfair to dismiss a worker because they accepted or rejected a guaranteed hours offer, because you wanted to avoid making the offer, or because you believed they were entitled to one. No qualifying service period applies.
ERA 2025: What Every Employer Using Zero Hours Contracts Needs to Know
The ban on exclusivity clauses has been extended to all zero hours arrangements, not just formal zero hours contracts. This includes informal bank staff and ad hoc arrangements. Dismissing or penalising a worker for working elsewhere is automatically unfair with no qualifying service requirement.
The Fair Work Agency launches with powers to investigate employers, conduct workplace inspections, impose fines, and name and shame non-compliant employers. Zero hours contract compliance is a stated enforcement priority.
Guaranteed hours obligations come into force. Employers will be required to offer zero hours workers a guaranteed hours contract reflecting their actual working pattern over a 12-week reference period. Workers can accept or decline. Dismissing a worker for asserting or exercising this right will be automatically unfair.
Unfair dismissal protection after six months’ service. Zero hours workers who have established employee status will have unfair dismissal protection after just six months. Many zero hours arrangements will have crossed that threshold without the employer realising it.
Start auditing your zero hours arrangements now. Track actual hours worked. Prepare for the guaranteed hours obligation. And follow a proper dismissal process every single time.
Read our full ERA 2025 guide for North West employersFrequently Asked Questions
Not safely. If the worker has established employee status through their working pattern, stopping shifts without a formal process is likely to be treated as a dismissal, and potentially an unfair one. Even where the worker has worker status only, stopping shifts for a reason connected to a protected right or characteristic creates legal risk. The only safe approach is to follow a proper process and document the reason for ending the engagement.
It depends on their employment status. If they are employees, which many zero hours workers are in practice despite what the contract says, they have unfair dismissal protection after the qualifying period (currently two years, reducing to six months from January 2027). If they are workers but not employees, they do not have general unfair dismissal rights but do have protection from automatically unfair dismissal in specific circumstances including asserting statutory rights, whistleblowing, and from 2027, guaranteed hours rights.
Employment status is determined by the reality of the working relationship not the contract label. Key factors include whether there is a mutuality of obligation (an expectation on both sides that work will be offered and accepted), personal service, and employer control. If your zero hours worker has been turning up every week for a year or more on a consistent schedule, there is a real risk that a tribunal would find employee status. Get advice before dismissing anyone in that position.
If the worker is an employee, they are entitled to their contractual or statutory notice, whichever is higher. Statutory minimum is one week per year of service. If the worker is a worker but not an employee, the contractual notice period in the zero hours contract applies, though many zero hours contracts specify very short or no notice periods. Check the contract carefully and take advice if you are unsure.
Yes, the same gross misconduct rules apply. You must investigate properly, invite the worker to a formal hearing, give them an opportunity to respond, and offer a right of appeal. You cannot dismiss for gross misconduct simply by stopping offering shifts.
ERA 2025 makes zero hours contracts significantly more regulated from 2027 onwards. Employers will be required to offer guaranteed hours contracts to workers who have established a regular working pattern over a 12-week reference period. Workers can accept or decline. It will be automatically unfair to dismiss a worker for asserting this right. Shift notice and cancellation compensation requirements will also apply. Start preparing your zero hours arrangements now for these changes.
No. Exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts have been banned since 2015. The ban was extended in January 2026 to cover all zero hours arrangements, not just formal contracts. Any dismissal or detriment for working elsewhere is automatically unfair with no qualifying service period.
Yes. The combination of employment status uncertainty, automatic unfair dismissal risks, and ERA 2025 changes makes zero hours dismissals more legally complex than most employers realise. DaisyHR advises North West employers on zero hours issues regularly. Call us before you make any decision.
Get Dismissal Advice From a North West HR Consultant
Dismissal is the area where North West SMEs face the most tribunal risk, and where getting advice early makes the biggest difference to the outcome. Book a free 30-minute consultation. We will assess the situation, tell you what the risk looks like and advise on the right course of action before you make any final decision.
Dismissal advice for employers across Bolton, Manchester, Wigan, Warrington, Salford, Stockport, Bury, Rochdale, Preston, Lancaster, Cheshire and the wider North West. · Last reviewed: March 2026