# UK Shift Notice and Cancellation Pay: What Hospitality Owners Need to Know About the 2027 Rules

> The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates three new rights for zero and low-hours hospitality staff: guaranteed hours, reasonable shift notice, and short-notice cancellation pay. Here is what each one means, the real 2027 timeline, what a consultation closing 25 August 2026 is still deciding, and what a small venue can do now.

- Author: Alex Riesenkampff (Super44)
- Published: 2026-07-21
- Canonical: https://super44.ai/blog/uk-employment-rights-act-rotas

## Key takeaways

- The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates three new rights for zero and low-hours hospitality staff: guaranteed hours based on a reference period, reasonable notice of shifts, and payment when a shift is cancelled, moved, or curtailed at short notice.
- The government's own timeline, updated 16 July 2026, puts all three rights into effect in 2027, not October 2026, with the exact date "to be updated after consultation" (GOV.UK, Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update).
- The consultation deciding the actual mechanics, notice period, payment percentage, and reference period, opened 2 June 2026 and closes 25 August 2026; none of the figures in it are final (DBT consultation document).
- The Act itself sets one hard number: "short notice" can never be defined in regulations as more than 7 days. Everything else, from 1 to 7 days, is still an open question.
- 28% of hospitality employers expect their employment costs to rise "to a large extent" because of the Employment Rights Act, the highest share of any sector bar social care at 31% (CIPD, Winter 2025/26 Labour Market Outlook).

If you run a cafe, restaurant, or bar with staff on zero-hours or casual contracts, three new legal rights are coming for them: a right to guaranteed hours, a right to reasonable notice of a shift, and a right to be paid if a shift is cancelled, moved, or cut short at short notice. **These rights come from the Employment Rights Act 2025, and the government's own timeline, updated 16 July 2026, puts all three into effect in 2027, with the exact date still to be confirmed after a consultation on the practical detail that runs until 25 August 2026.** They are not yet in force, and the specific numbers that will decide how much notice counts as reasonable and how much a cancelled shift is worth haven't been set.

This guide walks through what each right actually means, when they take effect and what changes sooner than that, what the government is still deciding and when you'll find out, what UK hospitality operators and UKHospitality are saying about it, and what a small venue can reasonably do now, before a single number is finalised.

## The three rights the Act creates for zero-hours and low-hours staff

**The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates three distinct rights for zero-hours and low-hours workers, each inserted into Part 2A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 by its own section.** Section 1 creates the right to guaranteed hours: a qualifying worker becomes entitled to a contract reflecting the hours they've actually been working over a reference period, rather than staying on a contract that promises nothing. Section 2 creates the right to reasonable notice of a shift, and of any change to one. Section 3 creates the right to payment when a shift is cancelled, moved, or curtailed at short notice, even if no work happens at all. A fourth section extends the guaranteed-hours and shift-notice rights to agency workers, and a fifth allows the rights to be varied through collective agreements.

None of these are optional add-ons an employer can opt out of once they commence, and none of them are limited to formal zero-hours contracts on paper; a low-hours worker whose actual pattern is unpredictable enough can qualify too, once the threshold defining "low hours" is set. What isn't written into the Act is how much notice counts as reasonable, how much a cancelled shift is worth, or how long the reference period for guaranteed hours should run. Those numbers are deliberately left to secondary legislation, which is exactly what the current consultation exists to shape.

## When the rules actually take effect

**All three rights land in 2027, not October 2026, though the exact date within 2027 hasn't been set yet.** The government's most recent published position, from 16 July 2026, groups guaranteed hours, reasonable notice, and short-notice payment together as a single bundle under "measures that will take effect in 2027," with the note that "timings will be updated after consultation." An earlier roadmap, from February 2026, had hedged that "exact dates... may align with either April or October commencement cycles" for various parts of the Act, which is where some of the "October 2026" claims still circulating in search results and vendor content come from; the government's current position doesn't support that reading for these three rights specifically.

October 2026 is still a real commencement date, just for other parts of the Act: wider trade union access to workplaces, an extension of the employment tribunal time limit from three months to six, and a duty to consult staff before writing or changing a tipping policy, first covered on this blog in our [guide to setting up an independent tronc scheme](/blog/uk-tronc-scheme-guide). Fire-and-rehire restrictions, sometimes lumped into the same October headline, actually land later still, in January 2027. None of these October 2026 changes touch how you build a rota.

## What the consultation is still deciding, and closes 25 August 2026

**Every operational number a hospitality venue would need to plan around, notice period, cancellation payment, and reference period, is still an open option in a government consultation that closes 25 August 2026, not a settled rule.** The consultation, "Make Work Pay: ending one-sided flexibility," was published 2 June 2026 and lays out ranges rather than answers.

**What the government is still deciding, and what it has said it prefers**

| Question | Options under consultation | Government's stated position |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reference period for guaranteed hours | 12 / 26 / 52 weeks | 12 weeks (stated preference) |
| Hours threshold to count as "low hours" | 8 to 48 hours a week, in 4-hour steps | 8 to 20 hours a week (preferred range) |
| "Reasonable notice" of a shift, employed staff | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 weeks | No preference stated |
| Maximum length "short notice" can be set at | 1 / 2 / 3 / 5 / 7 days | Capped at 7 days by the Act itself |
| Short-notice cancellation payment, % of shift value | 10% / 30% / 50% / 65% / 80% | No preference stated |

*Source: DBT, 'Make Work Pay: ending one-sided flexibility, reforms of zero hours and similar contracts', consultation document, 2 June 2026, closes 25 August 2026. None of these figures are final.*

The one number the Act does fix directly is the ceiling on "short notice" itself: regulations can never define it as more than 7 days, whatever the consultation eventually lands on within that range. Every other figure, from the length of "reasonable" notice to the exact percentage a cancelled shift is worth, remains a live option until the government publishes its response.

**What a cancelled-shift payment could cost, at the low and high end of the range under consultation** *(interactive calculator in the web version)*

Example (Average value of a cancelled shift: 60 £, Shifts cancelled or moved at short notice, per month: 6):

- Yearly cost if the payment is set at 10% of shift value: 432 £
- Yearly cost if the payment is set at 80% of shift value: 3,456 £

*Illustrative only, using the lowest and highest percentage options the government put out for consultation (10% and 80% of what the worker would have earned). No percentage has been chosen yet; treat this as a range to plan around, not a forecast.*

Super44 connects to your POS and shows you where your money leaks — then tells you what to do about it: https://super44.ai

## What a missed payment could actually cost you

**The government's preferred enforcement route for short-notice payments is the Fair Work Agency, not an employment tribunal, and its proposed penalties are deliberately lighter than the ones for underpaying wages.** Guaranteed hours and reasonable notice are earmarked for tribunals instead, on the reasoning that both need more case-by-case judgement than a single payment calculation does. For the short-notice payment specifically, the consultation sets out the government's preferred penalty as 50% of the arrears owed to the worker, with a minimum of £100 per case and a maximum of £5,000 per worker. That's a noticeably softer regime than the one already in force for underpaying the National Minimum Wage, where the penalty runs to 200% of arrears, minimum £100, maximum £20,000, and it signals the government sees this less as a wage-theft problem than a scheduling-discipline one.

What doesn't get softened is how far back a claim can reach. The consultation proposes a six-year claim period, matching the limitation period used for other rights the Fair Work Agency already enforces. In practice that means whatever record you can produce for a shift cancelled next month could still matter years from now if a dispute ever reaches the Agency, another reason the informal habit of logging notice given and cancellations made is worth starting well before any commencement date, rather than treating it as a job for whenever the rules are finalised.

## Does hospitality's seasonal pattern get any exemption?

**The Act carves out an exemption for genuinely limited-term contracts, but the government itself isn't sure it covers a typical hospitality season, and it says so directly in the consultation.** A fixed-term contract shorter than the reference period can escape the guaranteed-hours duty if it's "reasonable" for it to be limited-term, and the Act gives three routes to that: the contract exists to complete a specific task, it exists to cover a particular event, or it meets a "temporary need" still to be defined in regulations. The first two obviously cover a wedding caterer or a one-off festival bar. What they don't obviously cover is a seaside café that runs a much bigger team from May to September every year, or a Christmas-market stall that reopens on the same seasonal rhythm without tying itself to one dated event.

The consultation asks respondents directly for examples of seasonal or hospitality scenarios that fall outside the task-completion and event routes, which reads as the government acknowledging the gap rather than denying it. A venue that leans heavily on a predictable but recurring seasonal headcount, not a one-off event, has a real reason to watch how "temporary need" gets defined in the eventual regulations, and arguably a reason to respond to the consultation directly before it closes on 25 August 2026, rather than wait to find out after the fact whether its usual hiring pattern qualifies.

## What hospitality operators and UKHospitality are saying

**Hospitality's trade body backs the principle of the reform but wants a longer reference period and a lighter touch than the government's current preference.** UKHospitality chair Kate Nicholls said in the trade body's formal consultation response: "Exploitative contracts have no place in hospitality and we share the Government's ambition to protect flexible work." The same response argues the reference period should run 26 weeks rather than the government's preferred 12, on the grounds that a longer window is "a fairer and more accurate reflection of a team member's regular work pattern" and better matches hospitality's seasonal swings, "hot weather or a major sporting event, for example, can fundamentally change how a business runs on any particular day." UKHospitality also warns that "over-regulating flexible work actually increases work instability, rather than decrease it," a risk it says "must be avoided at all costs."

Individual operators have been blunter. Heath Ball, managing director of Frisco Pubs, told the Morning Advertiser the reforms create "a field of landmines for operators" and that "the additional time and cost this will take will add yet another straw to the proverbial camel's back." Rob Barr, owner of Barr & Barr Hospitality, called the Act "one of the most significant pieces of legislation in decades for employers" and said "the traditional model of high turnover employment will have to be reconsidered." Greene King, reacting specifically to the 12-week reference-period proposal, said it "fails to reflect the variability of their work across the year." That concern shows up in the numbers too: the CIPD's Winter 2025/26 Labour Market Outlook, surveying over 2,000 senior HR decision-makers, found 28% of hospitality employers expect their employment costs to rise "to a large extent" because of the Employment Rights Act, second only to social care at 31%, and well above most other sectors.

The pressure isn't one-sided. The Resolution Foundation, weighing in on the reform's economic case, found that 2.4 million workers report feeling "very anxious" about last-minute shift changes. A government factsheet accompanying the reforms puts the current baseline even starker for the group most exposed: Living Wage Foundation research from 2023, cited by the Department for Business and Trade, found 59% of workers on variable hours get less than a week's notice of a shift, and 13% get less than 24 hours. Roughly 1.2 million people across the UK, about 3.6% of everyone in employment, are on zero-hours contracts as of the most recent quarter measured (ONS, October to December 2025). Whatever the final notice period turns out to be, closing that gap is the problem the Act is actually trying to solve, even if the numbers that will do it aren't set yet.

## What a small venue can do now, before any of the numbers are final

**Three things are worth doing now regardless of where the consultation lands, because none of them depend on a specific notice period or payment percentage.** First, work out roughly how many of your staff are on genuinely unpredictable hours today, not just formally "zero-hours" on paper, but anyone whose actual weekly hours swing widely without a contracted floor. That headcount is what a future reference period will be measured against, whether it ends up being 12, 26, or 52 weeks. Second, start logging, even informally, how much notice shifts and shift changes actually get in your venue right now, and how cancellations get communicated, verbally, by text, or through a rota app. That's the "before" baseline any new right will be compared to, and it's far easier to build the habit before a legal deadline forces it than to reconstruct it retroactively once one lands.

Third, don't build a compliance process around a number that hasn't been chosen. It's tempting to pick a figure, say two weeks' notice and 50% cancellation pay, and start running your rota against it now, but the consultation offers four different notice-period options and five different payment percentages precisely because the government hasn't decided. A venue that commits early to the wrong number risks either over-promising staff a right the law doesn't yet require, or under-preparing for one that turns out stricter. Watching for the consultation response after 25 August 2026, and for the secondary legislation that follows it, is the more useful use of attention between now and whenever 2027 turns out to be. This is the same discipline that pays off with [labour cost more broadly](/blog/restaurant-labour-cost-percentage): the number that actually matters is the one you can verify against a primary source, not the one that's easiest to repeat.

## FAQ

### What are the UK's new zero-hours rights for hospitality staff?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates three of them. A right to guaranteed hours, so a worker whose actual pattern is regular gets offered a contract that reflects it. A right to reasonable notice before a shift, and before any change to one. And a right to be paid when a shift is cancelled, moved, or cut short at short notice, even if no work happens at all. None of the three are in force yet; they're written into law but waiting on the regulations that set the exact numbers.

### When do these rules actually take effect?

In 2027, though not on a fixed date yet. The government's own timeline, last updated 16 July 2026, groups all three rights under "measures that will take effect in 2027," with the note that "timings will be updated after consultation." A consultation on the actual detail, notice period, payment percentage, reference period, closes 25 August 2026. October 2026 does bring other, unrelated changes under the same Act: wider trade union access, a longer employment tribunal time limit, and a tipping-policy consultation duty, but not these three rota rights.

### How much notice will I have to give staff before a shift?

Nobody knows yet, including the government. Its consultation offers four options for directly employed staff, 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks, and a separate, shorter set of options for agency workers, from under 5 days up to 4 weeks. No preferred option is stated for either group; that choice is what the consultation, closing 25 August 2026, is meant to settle.

### How much will I have to pay if I cancel a shift at short notice?

Also undecided, but bounded. The consultation is choosing between paying a percentage of what the worker would have earned working the shift or a percentage of the National Living Wage rate, with percentage options of 10%, 30%, 50%, 65%, or 80% on the table. The Act itself sets the only fixed limit: the payment can never exceed 100% of what the worker would have earned, and "short notice" itself can never be defined as more than 7 days.

### What reference period will decide who gets guaranteed hours?

The government's stated preference is 12 weeks, but 26 weeks and 52 weeks are also on the table, and UKHospitality is actively lobbying for 26 weeks on the grounds that hospitality's seasonal swings need a longer window to average out fairly. Nothing is confirmed until the consultation closes and the government responds.

### What can I do now, before any of the numbers are final?

Three things cost nothing and won't be wasted whatever the final rules say. Work out roughly how many staff are on zero or genuinely unpredictable low-hours contracts today. Start logging, even informally, how much notice shifts actually get and how cancellations are communicated, since that's the baseline the new rights will be measured against. And keep an eye on the consultation response, expected after 25 August 2026, for the actual figures.

## Sources

1. [GOV.UK: Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act, timeline update](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/implementing-the-plan-to-make-work-pay-and-employment-rights-act/plan-to-make-work-pay-and-employment-rights-act-timeline-update) — Updated 16 July 2026; groups guaranteed hours, reasonable notice, and short-notice payment under "2027," timing to be confirmed after consultation
2. [Employment Rights Act 2025, Section 1: Right to guaranteed hours](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36/section/1) — Amends Part 2A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 to create the guaranteed-hours right
3. [Employment Rights Act 2025, Section 2: Shifts, rights to reasonable notice](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36/section/2) — Creates the right to reasonable notice of a shift and of changes to a shift
4. [Employment Rights Act 2025, Section 3: Right to payment for cancelled, moved and curtailed shifts](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36/section/3) — Creates the short-notice cancellation-pay right and its 7-day statutory ceiling on defining "short notice"
5. [DBT: Make Work Pay: ending one-sided flexibility, reforms of zero hours and similar contracts](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a22e4b056e988a798b3870d/ending-one-sided-flexibility-reforms-zero-hours-similar-contracts-consultation-document.pdf) — Consultation document, published 2 June 2026, closes 25 August 2026; source of every notice-period, payment-percentage, and reference-period option cited here
6. [ACAS: Employment Rights Act 2025](https://www.acas.org.uk/employment-rights-act-2025) — "The government has not announced when in 2027 most of these changes will happen"
7. [GOV.UK: Reforms of zero hours and similar contracts, factsheet](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a1d6024c7335e2ca6daad8c/zero-hours-contracts.pdf) — 1.2 million people on zero-hours contracts (ONS, Oct-Dec 2025); Living Wage Foundation 2023 notice-period figures
8. [UKHospitality: Zero hours consultation, our response](https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/zero-hours-consultation-our-response/) — Kate Nicholls quote; the 26-week reference-period counter-proposal
9. [CIPD: Employment Rights Act a "handbrake on hiring", Labour Market Outlook Winter 2025/26](https://www.cipd.org/en/about/press-releases/employment-rights-act-handbrake-on-hiring-labour-market-outlook-winter-25-26/) — 28% of hospitality employers expect costs to rise "to a large extent"; published 16 February 2026
10. [Morning Advertiser: Operators warn of pressures from new Employment Rights reforms](https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2026/03/05/operators-warn-of-pressures-from-new-employment-rights-reforms/) — Named operator quotes, Frisco Pubs, Lancaster Brewery, Barr & Barr Hospitality
11. [Morning Advertiser: Pubs warn guaranteed hours policy risks jobs and flexibility](https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2026/05/01/operators-warn-guaranteed-hours-policy-risks-jobs-and-flexibility/) — Greene King reaction to the 12-week reference-period proposal
12. [Resolution Foundation: New employment protections will improve workers' wellbeing](https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/press-releases/new-employment-protections-will-improve-workers-wellbeing-but-wont-make-any-difference-to-economic-growth/) — 2.4 million workers report feeling "very anxious" about last-minute shift changes
13. [Lewis Silkin: What's in the Employment Rights Act?](https://www.lewissilkin.com/en/insights/2026/07/10/whats-in-the-employment-rights-act) — Published 10 July 2026; confirms the 2027 timing for zero-hours measures, including their extension to agency workers
14. [Birketts: Zero Hours Contracts Reform, ERA 2025 Consultation 2026](https://www.birketts.co.uk/legal-update/employment-rights-act-2025-zero-hours-contracts/) — Implementation date "expected to be in 2027, but the exact date has not yet been confirmed"