Zero hours contract terms

A. Like any employment contract, the starting point is your written contract terms — and under a zero hours contract, the employer typically does not guarantee to provide any working hours at all.

However, the EAT recently confirmed in the case of Pulse Healthcare Limited v Carewatch Care Services Limited & Others [2012] UKEAT 0123/12/2007 that when working out the contract terms of a zero hours employee, a tribunal must look not just at the written contract document itself, but also at the surrounding circumstances.

For example, the tribunal must check to see whether, even though the contract says your contract is for zero hours, the true situation is that you are required to work regular hours.

It is important to keep your own clear record of your working days, hours, pay and holidays, and to keep copies of your pay slips.