Other statutory employment rights available to zero-hours workers

All workers, including casual workers and those on zero-hours contracts, are entitled to many basic statutory employment rights, including the right to statutory sick pay, paid holiday and the National Minimum Wage, irrespective of whether they are workers as opposed to employees. The main rights are listed in the box at the end of chapter 5. In addition, all workers, including any self-employed workers who are obliged to work personally, are protected from discrimination under section 83(2)(a) of the Equality Act 2010.

In reality, the absence of any ongoing obligation on the employer to provide work in return for wages makes asserting these rights an extremely high risk activity, especially without the organisation, solidarity and support of a trade union, because of the danger of employer retaliation through withholding hours. There is already growing evidence (collected, for example by UNISON Bargaining Support) that the few legal rights available to these workers, covering hours, wages, rest periods and sick pay, are abused as a direct result of their precarious status.