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Am I Zero hours if I don’t have an contract

I’ve been at my job for nearly 2 years and have never had a written or verbal contract of any kind. Does this mean I’ve got a zero hour contract or does that have to be discussed with my employer ???

When I tried to change my days from 5/6 to 4 a week, no weekends so I could work my other job. A job my boss knew I had before I worked for him. In return I’ll work the long shifts for 4 days. When I brought it up, he tried telling me I had a contract. Which I don’t. And I’m not zero hours because I get paid holidays. Which I definitely don’t.

But what he’s doing now is putting me for the long shifts 5 days a week. And not letting me have weekends off. So he’s only doing what he wants.

Is there anything I can do about this? He’s denied I’m zero hours but I don’t have a contract. He’s allowing other people to choose their hours and days. But not me
I'm pretty sure you have to have an employment contract. Zero hours workers still get statutory holiday. Your boss can require you to work whatever hours he wants (provided they aren't more than 48/week). The only thing you can do is quit if your boss won't change.
If you haven’t got a contract then your employer is breaking employment law.

All workers have the right to a contract.
You do have a verbal contract, the terms of which will have been established over the time that you have been working. It sounds on the face of it like that contract does have defined working hours, and is not a zero hours contract. But it's difficult to say definitively without further information. In any event, the other posters are right that you have a statutory right to a written contract, which you should have been provided with well before now. I would certainly ask your employer for a written contract, though the timing of that could be important given that your employer at least seems to have very little regard for your employment rights. You say you've been working for nearly two years. Once you have been working for more than two years you have the right to not be unfairly dismissed. What that means is that if you ask for a written contract and are dismissed, that dismissal would be unfair and you'd have a right to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Arguably you'd be able to do that anyway if you were dismissed for asking for a written contract of employment, but if you're close to the two years it makes sense to wait until then.
Original post by Crazy Jamie
You do have a verbal contract, the terms of which will have been established over the time that you have been working. It sounds on the face of it like that contract does have defined working hours, and is not a zero hours contract. But it's difficult to say definitively without further information. In any event, the other posters are right that you have a statutory right to a written contract, which you should have been provided with well before now. I would certainly ask your employer for a written contract, though the timing of that could be important given that your employer at least seems to have very little regard for your employment rights. You say you've been working for nearly two years. Once you have been working for more than two years you have the right to not be unfairly dismissed. What that means is that if you ask for a written contract and are dismissed, that dismissal would be unfair and you'd have a right to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Arguably you'd be able to do that anyway if you were dismissed for asking for a written contract of employment, but if you're close to the two years it makes sense to wait until then.


Thank you for replying. He hasn’t discussed my hours with me at all. I applied for part time but have never been given it. I work when he wants me. Sometimes I work up to 10 days straight and called in on my days off. I’d have been there two years in October.
Original post by Nousername2431
Thank you for replying. He hasn’t discussed my hours with me at all. I applied for part time but have never been given it. I work when he wants me. Sometimes I work up to 10 days straight and called in on my days off. I’d have been there two years in October.

If your hours are very variably then it's possible you are on a zero hours contract. A zero hours contract is essentially one where there is no obligation on the employer to offer you a certain number of hours and (in theory at least) there's no obligation on you to accept those hours. You can work a lot of hours and still technically be on a zero hours contract. However, if you are working a consistent number of hours (even if not on the same days/shifts) it probably isn't a zero hours contract. The issue doesn't come down to you working a specific number of hours at a particular time, but whether there is that obligation in practice for him to offer you work, and for you to accept it (it's what's called mutuality of obligation, which is needed for you to be an employee, as opposed to a worker on a zero hours contract). It's very difficult to know without more specific information.

You've already been told the legal position, which is that you are entitled to written particulars of your employment. However, there is a practical issue as to whether you are willing to ask for those and potentially risk your employer sacking you. If he does that he may well have dismissed you unlawfully for asserting a statutory right, but again you would have to be willing to bring an employment tribunal claim if you wanted to receive compensation for that, and in practice you may not have the time or inclination to do so. If you wait until October to ask you would be on a stronger footing if he dismissed you because he positively needs a fair reason to do it at that point, but again if he did so you'd have to bring a claim to receive compensation. So as much as in theory everyone on the internet would want you to assert your statutory rights and ask for written particulars, in practice there is no issue with you keeping quiet (at least until October) to make sure you keep your job. On the other hand, if the situation really is one you can't cope with, you may want to ask him about this whatever the risks may be of him reacting badly to it. All depends on the specifics and how you feel about it, all of which you have a better idea of than us.

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