Section 27B: Power to make further provision in relation to zero hours workers, Employment Rights Act 1996

The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for the purpose of securing that zero hours workers, or any description of zero hours workers, are not restricted by any provision or purported provision of their worker's contracts or their arrangements with their employers from doing any work otherwise than under those contracts or arrangements.

In this section, "zero hours workers" means—

employees or other workers who work under zero hours contracts;

individuals who work under ... zero hours arrangements;

individuals who work under worker's contracts of a kind specified by the regulations.

The worker's contracts which may be specified by virtue of subsection (2)(c) are those in relation to which the Secretary of State considers it appropriate for provision made by the regulations to apply, having regard, in particular, to provision made by the worker's contracts as to income, rate of pay or working hours.

In this section "... zero hours arrangement" means an arrangement (whether contractual or non-contractual) other than a worker's contract under which—

an employer and an individual agree terms on which the individual will do any work where the employer makes it available to the individual and the individual agrees to do it, but

the employer is not required to make any work available to the individual, nor the individual required to accept it,

and in this section "employer", in relation to a ... zero hours arrangement, is to be read accordingly.

Provision that may be made by regulations under subsection (1) includes provision for—

modifying—

zero hours contracts;

... zero hours arrangements;

other worker's contracts;

imposing financial penalties on employers;

requiring employers to pay compensation to zero hours workers;

conferring jurisdiction on employment tribunals;

conferring rights on zero hours workers.

Regulations under this section may—

make different provision for different purposes;

make provision subject to exceptions.

For the purposes of this section—

"zero hours contract" has the same meaning as in section 27A;

an employer makes work available to an individual if the employer requests or requires the individual to do it;

references to work and doing work include references to services and performing them.

Nothing in this section is to be taken to affect any worker's contract except so far as any regulations made under this section expressly apply in relation to it.

Section 27B: Power to make further provision in relation to zero hours workers

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