Guaranteed Hours Are Coming: Why Your Rota Records Matter Now

TL;DR: New rules expected in 2027 will require you to offer zero-hours and low-hours staff contracts based on the hours they actually work. Start recording worked hours properly now, so you know your costs and stay in control when the rules arrive.

Do you need to do anything about guaranteed hours before the rules are even finalised? Yes, but probably not for the reason you’ve heard. The hours your team works this autumn almost certainly won’t count towards what you’ll owe them, because the regulations haven’t started yet. What matters is that when they do start, the kitchens with clean, reliable records will know exactly where they stand, while everyone else will be guessing with real money on the line.

What’s changing

The Employment Rights Act 2025 became law in December 2025. Among other things, it gives zero-hours and low-hours workers the right to be offered a contract that guarantees the hours they regularly work. The detail is being set in regulations, and the government’s consultation on them closed on 25 August 2026. The rules are expected to take effect in 2027.

Two proposals matter most for a kitchen. The first is the reference period, which is the stretch of time you look back over to work out someone’s regular hours. The government’s preference is 12 weeks, although 26 and 52 weeks were also on the table. The second is the low-hours threshold. Anyone contracted for fewer hours than this figure could qualify. The government favours somewhere between 8 and 20 hours a week, from a wider range of options that went as high as 48.

Neither figure is final. But both are close enough to plan around.

What it could actually cost you

Take a commis on a zero-hours contract who works an average of 16 hours a week over the reference period. At the current National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour, that’s a guaranteed commitment of £203.36 a week, or £10,574.72 a year, before employer’s National Insurance and holiday pay.

Now multiply that across every zero-hours and low-hours member of your brigade and front-of-house team. That’s the figure you need to know before the rules land, not after. The current rates are £12.71 for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20-year-olds, and £8.00 for under-18s and apprentices.

The Christmas problem

Here’s where it gets interesting for kitchens. A 12-week window can be badly skewed by a busy spell.

Imagine a kitchen porter who normally works 10 hours a week, then does 30 hours a week through four weeks of December parties. Over 12 weeks, that’s 200 hours, which averages out at almost 17 hours a week. Offer guaranteed hours on that basis and you could be paying for December all year round.

The consultation asked whether the calculation should use the mean (the simple average, giving almost 17 hours in this example) or the median (the middle value, giving 10 hours). That one technical choice could make a big difference to your wage bill, and the hospitality and retail sectors have raised exactly this concern about seasonal peaks. Until the final rules are published, you won’t know which method applies. But if you’re tracking actual hours week by week, you’ll be able to run both numbers the moment you need to.

Notice and cancellations matter just as much

The new law isn’t only about hours. It also brings in rights to reasonable notice of shifts and payment when shifts are cancelled or cut at short notice.

That hits kitchens hard. Research by the Living Wage Foundation found that among workers on variable hours or shifts, 62% had less than a week’s notice of their schedules and 12% had less than 24 hours’ notice. That research dates from 2020, but anyone who has rung round for cover on a Friday afternoon knows the picture hasn’t changed much. Every “don’t come in, we’re quiet” phone call is the kind of practice these rules are designed to curb.

You already have a legal duty to keep records

Good record-keeping isn’t just future-proofing. Since 6 April 2026, every employer has been legally required to keep adequate holiday and holiday pay records for six years, and failing to do so is a criminal offence. The Fair Work Agency, a new enforcement body bringing together several existing watchdogs, launched the following day. Its powers over holiday pay are still being worked out, but its direction of travel is clear: employers will need to show their working.

If you’re already tightening up holiday records, adding worked hours, notice and cancellations to the same system is a small step.

What clean rota data looks like

Hours worked, not hours rostered. Your rota is a plan, not a record. If someone is sent home early on a quiet Tuesday, or stays two hours late to finish a function, your records need to show what actually happened.

Every cancellation and change, with the notice given. Note the date, the shift affected and how much warning the worker had. This is exactly the information the notice and cancellation rules will turn on.

A rolling 12-week total for each person. For every zero-hours and low-hours worker, keep a running weekly figure of actual hours worked over the last 12 weeks. A simple spreadsheet will do. Most rota apps record clock-in and clock-out times, but check whether yours can report rolling averages per person, as many can’t do it without a manual export.

What to do this month

1. Check that your rota system records hours actually worked, not just hours planned.
2. List every zero-hours and low-hours worker in your business.
3. Start a rolling 12-week hours record for each of them.
4. Record every cancelled or changed shift, with the notice given.
5. Flag anyone regularly working between 8 and 20 hours a week.
6. Work out what guaranteed contracts for those people would cost, using both the mean and the median.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will the guaranteed-hours rules take effect?
They’re expected to come into force in 2027, possibly by the spring. The exact date depends on the final regulations, which the government is drafting now that the consultation has closed.

Will the hours my staff work now count towards their offer?
Almost certainly not. The reference period should begin once the rules are in force. Keeping records now is about knowing your costs and building good habits, not about the clock already running.

Can a worker turn down a guaranteed-hours offer?
Yes. Workers who genuinely prefer flexibility can decline and stay on their existing arrangement. Zero-hours contracts are being regulated, not banned.

Do I need new rota software?
Not necessarily. What matters is that you can see actual hours worked per person over a rolling period. A well-kept spreadsheet can do that if your current system can’t.

What about casual staff I only use for the odd event?
Track their hours the same way. The proposals require workers to have worked with some regularity during the reference period to qualify, so occasional staff may fall outside the rules, but you’ll only know if you have the records.

What happens if I don’t prepare?
You’ll be calculating guaranteed-hours offers in a hurry, without reliable data, once the rules take effect. That risks offering too many hours, which costs you money, or too few, which could lead to tribunal claims.