ZERO HOURS CONTRACT
1. STATUS OF THIS AGREEMENT
1. Status of this agreement
Status of this agreement
Workers are entitled to far fewer employment rights than employees (see Checklist, Statutory rights of workers and employees (www.practicallaw.com/9-200-2149)). Although any contractual provision which purports to sign away employment rights is void (see, for example, section 203, Employment Rights Act 1996), the following wording could be included as a deterrent or future bargaining chip:
"You warrant that you understand that as a casual worker you will not be entitled to bring any claims for certain legal rights conferred on employees including but not limited to unfair dismissal".
Arguably, as this would not actually prevent a claim being brought, it may be possible for the employer to sue on this warranty.
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This contract governs your engagement from time to time by [Name of Employer] (Company) as a casual worker. This is not an employment contract and does not confer any employment rights on you (other than those to which workers are entitled). In particular, it does not create any obligation on the Company to provide work to you and by entering into this contract you confirm your understanding that the Company makes no promise or guarantee of a minimum level of work to you and you will work on a flexible, "as required" basis. It is the intention of both you and the Company that there be no mutuality of obligation between the parties at any time when you are not performing an assignment.
2. COMPANY'S DISCRETION AS TO WORK OFFERED
It is entirely at the Company's discretion whether to offer you work and it is under no obligation to provide work to you at any time.
The Company reserves the right to give or not give work to any person at any time and is under no obligation to give any reasons for such decisions.
3. NO PRESUMPTION OF CONTINUITY
3. No presumption of continuity
No presumption of continuity
Rather than having to issue a new contract every time that work is offered and accepted, the contract is drafted so that its terms will apply to each assignment. The intention behind the wording here is to prevent an argument that there is an overarching umbrella agreement in place and continuity of employment in the gaps between work.
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Each offer of work by the Company which you accept shall be treated as an entirely separate and severable engagement (an assignment). The terms of this contract shall apply to each assignment but there shall be no relationship between the parties after the end of one assignment and before the start of any subsequent assignment.
The fact that the Company has offered you work, or offers you work more than once, shall not confer any legal rights on you and, in particular, should not be regarded as establishing an entitlement to regular work or conferring continuity of employment.
4. ARRANGEMENTS FOR WORK
4. Arrangements for work
Arrangements for work
The practicalities of how the work is offered and accepted will vary depending on the circumstances; each organisation will have its own procedure which should be detailed here. It may be for the company to take the initiative and contact the individual, or it may be that the individual is required to phone in at a certain time to ascertain if there is any work available. The zero hours contract is one-sided in that the worker is expected to work if offered but the company has no obligation to offer a certain amount (or any) work. The company may consider granting a little leeway in allowing the worker to refuse a certain amount of offered assignments or, alternatively, make the arrangement less one sided by providing that the worker is under no obligation to accept any work offered. Optional wording is included. However, once it has been agreed that they will work any specified period, the company would obviously expect the worker to turn up for work at that time. The company may, however, want to specify what will happen if the worker fails to turn up for work or has a period of illness during an assignment.
Optional wording allowing the company to terminate the assignment early is also intended to defend against a claim that there is mutuality of obligation during each assignment.
This document has an optional personal information sheet which should be used if such information is not taken before the issue of the contract.
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If the Company wants to offer you any work it will contact you by telephone and/or text. You must provide accurate contact details to the Company when requested. You are under no obligation to accept any work offered by the Company at any time. If you accept an assignment, you must inform the Company immediately if you will be unable to complete it for any reason.
The Company reserves the right to terminate an assignment at any time for operational reasons. You will be paid for all work done during the assignment up to the time it is terminated.
5. WORK
5. Work
Work
There are now significant penalties for employers who employ illegal migrants. In order to be protected by the "statutory excuse" employers need to check certain documents before employing an individual and must keep a record of the checks that have been completed. Although this only applies in respect of employees, an employer may wish to check all workers' documents to satisfy itself that they have the right to work in the UK, as Immigration Officers may not distinguish between employees and workers. For further information see Practice note, Prevention of illegal working and establishing the right to work in the UK (www.practicallaw.com/3-200-2091).
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The Company may offer you work from time to time as [Details of anticipated position(s)]. The precise description and nature of your work may be varied with each assignment and you may be required to carry out other duties as necessary to meet business needs. You will be informed of the requirements at the start of each assignment.
Before offering you an assignment the Company will require certain documents from you in order to satisfy itself that you are legally entitled to work in the UK.
You confirm that you are legally entitled to work in the UK without any additional immigration approvals and agree to notify the Company immediately if you cease to be so entitled at any time.
6. PLACE OF WORK
The Company may offer you work at various locations. You will be informed of the relevant place of work for each assignment.
7. HOURS OF WORK
7. Hours of work
Hours of work
Whether the worker is to be entitled to a lunch break, and whether it will be paid, will depend on the circumstances. However the employer has to give at least a 20 minute break if the working day exceeds six hours (see Practice note, Working Time Regulations (www.practicallaw.com/0-200-4685)).
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Your hours of work will vary depending on the operational requirements of the Company. You will be informed of the required hours for each assignment.
You will be entitled to an unpaid lunch break of one hour where your assignment requires you to work more than six hours in any one day.
8. PAY
9. Pay
Pay
The clause is drafted on the basis that the casual worker is paid an hourly rate (for maximum flexibility), but the clause should be amended to reflect the circumstances; in some cases it may be appropriate for casual workers to be paid a weekly rate.
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You will only be paid for the hours that you work. The Company's current rate of pay for casual workers is £[Amount] an hour (gross). You will be paid monthly in arrears at the end of each month directly into your bank account for the hours worked in the previous month. The Company will make all necessary deductions from your salary as required by law and shall be entitled to deduct from your pay or other payments due to you any money which you may owe to the Company at any time.
9. HOLIDAYS
11. Holidays
Holidays
Since 1 April 2009, all full-time workers have the right to a minimum of 28 days (or 5.6 weeks) paid holiday a year under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) (WTR). Part-time workers are entitled to a pro-rated amount of paid holiday. As it is not known in advance how long a casual worker will be engaged for and they do not have regular working hours, it can be difficult to work out the amount of holiday to which a casual worker is entitled. It is usually easiest to calculate their holiday entitlement on the basis of the number of hours (or days) worked. Workers accrue holiday at the rate of 12.07% of the hours worked, which is calculated as follows: 5.6 weeks divided by 46.4 weeks (which is 52 weeks less 5.6 weeks). For further information on these issues, see Practice note, Casual workers (www.practicallaw.com/7-383-5377).
However, if the worker is engaged on a series of short term assignments, the employer is unlikely to want them to take holiday during such time and they can be paid in lieu of accrued but untaken holiday at the end of each such assignment as is required by regulation 14 of the WTR (this is not the same as paying rolled-up holiday pay (www.practicallaw.com/3-200-3458) on a regular basis through the payroll). Where the assignment is longer in duration or the employer is willing to allow workers to take holiday during the assignment, then the worker may need to be made subject to the employer's holiday request procedure.
The employer will have to put in place arrangements to ensure that it keeps a running total of the number of hours worked and holiday taken (or paid for). It may be appropriate to specify these arrangements in the contract. Dealing with holiday entitlement for casual workers is difficult, as it is not known in advance how much they will work during the holiday year. Whether the working day is eight hours or less will depend on the employer's existing arrangements.
For further information on holidays, see Practice note, Holidays (www.practicallaw.com/4-201-8464).
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Your holiday entitlement will depend on the number of hours that you actually work and be pro-rated on the basis of a full-time entitlement of [28] days' holiday during each full holiday year (including public holidays in England and Wales). The Company's holiday year runs between [Date] and [Date].
At the end of each assignment the Company will pay you in lieu of any accrued but untaken holiday for the holiday year in which the assignment ends.
If you have taken more holiday than your accrued entitlement at the date that your assignment ends, the Company shall be entitled to make deduction from any payment due to you in respect of such entitlement.
10. SICKNESS
12. Sickness
Sickness
The contract provides that the worker will only be entitled to statutory sick pay (www.practicallaw.com/1-200-3609) (SSP) where they satisfy the necessary legal requirements. To qualify for SSP, an individual must be a "qualifying employee", but this has a wider meaning in this context and includes all those whose earnings are liable for Class 1 National Insurance contributions (www.practicallaw.com/8-201-8297). Therefore a casual worker under a zero hours contract could qualify. An employer can always be more generous than just paying SSP, but should be wary of treating the worker like an employee.
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If you have accepted an offer of work but are subsequently unable to work the hours agreed, you must notify the HR department of the reason for your absence as soon as possible but no later than 9am on the first day of absence.
If you satisfy the qualifying conditions laid down by law, you will be entitled to receive statutory sick pay (SSP) at the prevailing rate in respect of any period of sickness or injury during an assignment, but you will not be entitled to any other payments from the Company during such period.
11. COMPANY RULES AND PROCEDURES
During each assignment you are required at all times to comply with the relevant Company rules, policies and procedures in force from time to time [and which are available on our intranet].
12. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
You shall not use or disclose to any person, either during or at any time after your engagement by the Company, any confidential information about the business or affairs of the Company, or about any other matters which may come to your knowledge as a result of carrying out assignments. For the purposes of this clause, confidential information means any information or matter which is not in the public domain and which relates to the affairs of the company.
The restriction in this clause does not apply to:
· prevent you from making a protected disclosure within the meaning of section 43A of the Employment Rights Act 1996; or
· use or disclosure that has been authorised by the Company or is required by law or in the course of your duties.
13. COMPANY PROPERTY
All documents, manuals, hardware and software provided for your use by the Company, and any data or documents (including copies) produced, maintained or stored on the Company's computer systems or other electronic equipment (including mobile phones), remain the property of the Company.
Any Company property in your possession and any original or copy documents obtained by you in the course of your work for the Company shall be returned to the HR department at any time on request and in any event at the end of each assignment.