In 2015, the first regulation of zero-hours contracts in the UK sought to address a virtually non-existent problem – namely, exclusivity clauses – in an attempt to divert attention away from the real problems associated with zero-hours contracts, and their broader, institutional causes.

The new regulations on zero hours contracts/arrangements contained within the Employment Rights Act 2025 at least purport to respond to some of the real problems associated with such contracts/arrangements. Not only do they fail to respond meaningfully to these problems, however, they do so at the expense of – and arguably for the explicit purpose of – obscuring the necessity for the wider institutional changes that would be required to address the causes of these problems.

A History Lesson

It should not be forgotten that, prior to the 1970s, workers were generally guaranteed a minimum income regardless of how much work they actually performed, and this meant that employers had little incentive not to make work available on a regular basis. This was a function of a social security system, which provided workers with a reasonable income even if they did not work, widespread collective bargaining, which facilitated the spread of full-time, salaried employment, and the Wages Councils, which guaranteed to workers a minimum remuneration regardless of how much work was performed. Things changed, however, with the dismantling of the wages council system, the overhaul of the social security...

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