My UK contract guarantees no hours. What am I actually agreeing to?

The manager says there is usually plenty of work, but the contract guarantees none. That matters when you are deciding how much income you can rely on and how much of your week to keep available.

This guide concerns England, Scotland and Wales, with sources checked on 9 September 2026. Northern Ireland has separate employment rules. It is a reading checklist, not a calculation of your individual entitlement.

Separate current rules from announced reforms

The government's zero-hours guidance, updated on 28 August 2026, says the new zero-hours measures are not yet in force. Do not assume a headline about reform already gives your offer guaranteed hours or cancellation payments.

The same guidance explains that zero-hours arrangements do not guarantee work and that the person's employment status can affect their rights. Zero guaranteed hours does not mean zero employment rights. Read the current guidance again if you use this article later, because implementation can change the answer.

Ask what a week of work actually looks like

Keep the contract and any scheduling policy open together. Find how shifts are offered, how long you have to reply and what makes a shift accepted. Then ask what happens if you decline or do not respond.

Write down any availability requirement. Being asked to reserve five days while being offered one short shift is different from choosing individual shifts freely. Compare the wording with the manager's explanation, including any scheduling app rules you have not yet received.

Use this fictional planning worksheet:

Ask about actual practice too, but keep a historical pattern separate from a contractual commitment. “Most staff get 25 hours” is not the same statement as “we guarantee you 25 hours.”

Estimate the income uncertainty

Here is a fictional illustration using an assumed £15 hourly rate, not a statement about the applicable minimum wage. A 20-hour week would produce £300 in basic gross hourly pay. An 8-hour week would produce £120. A week with no work would produce £0 from hours worked, before considering any separate pay entitlement.

Use your own rate and several plausible hour totals. This is not a payslip calculator: holiday, statutory payments, tax and other items need separate treatment. The point is to see whether the offer works for your budget when the expected shifts do not arrive.

If you need a minimum amount of work, ask whether the employer can offer guaranteed part-time hours or another arrangement that reflects the role. Avoid building your budget entirely around the busiest week described at interview.

Check the rights and pay explanation

Ask how the employer describes your status and why, how holiday and holiday pay are handled, and where the relevant terms are recorded. Do not assume that a label on the cover settles every entitlement.

For outside work, Acas explains that employers must not use exclusivity clauses to stop a person on a zero-hours contract working for another employer. If your draft appears to do that, ask for clarification and correction; do not accept “it's in the template” as the answer.

Also find notice and the process for ending the arrangement. Ask what happens if no work is offered for a period, rather than assuming that silence has ended every obligation.

Put your questions in one message

Adapt this fictional example:

Thanks for the offer. I understand there are no guaranteed hours. Could you confirm how shifts are offered and accepted, whether I can decline, and what happens if an accepted shift is cancelled? Please also send the holiday-pay explanation and scheduling policy. Clause 8 appears to require permission for any other job; could you check that wording against the rules for zero-hours arrangements?

Contracts.money can give an AI first read of the PDF or DOCX you supply and email an analysis. Add your work location, expected availability and the manager's description in the context. Use it to locate gaps and conflicting wording; verify current statutory rights against the linked sources rather than relying on an AI's memory of reform announcements.

Use the general employee checklist for the rest of the offer. If revised wording arrives, match the changes to your questions before signing.