Responsible employers ensure that zero-hour contracts are used only when employees provide their informed consent, and that there is transparency regarding the hours they are expected to work.

Additionally, these employers take measures to ensure that agency workers receive working terms equivalent to those of permanent staff members after 12-weeks of employment.

Access resources and follow essential criteria to help you become a better provider of secure work, or take the next step and make a pledge to be a Good Employer with secure work.

Secure work

What are the benefits of providing work security?

  1. Loyalty and retention. People in secure work typically show increased loyalty toward their company.
  2. Wellbeing. When employees have regular hours and predictable shifts, it is easier for them to manage finances and plan for the future. This can lead to positive impacts on employee wellbeing.
  3. Productivity. People in secure work exhibit boosted productivity, meaning you can deliver more together.
Secure work

Make the pledge

Join the Charter as a supporter and make a commitment to improving job security in your organisation. Commit to giving your employees clarity over the hours they work and not use exploitative zero hour contracts, so they have more security over their income and can manage their work and non-work commitments more easily.

Make the pledge and join the charter

Secure work criteria

What does best practice look like?

Advice for wherever you are on your good employment journey:

→ Getting started with secure work commitments

→ Demonstrating commitment to excellent practice

Getting started with Secure Work commitments

Supporters of the Charter commit to giving employees clarity over the hours they work and not use exploitative zero hour contracts, so they have more security over their income and can manage their work and non-work commitments more easily.

Demonstrating commitment to excellent practice

If you want to take it a step further, and demonstrate excellence, Members of the Charter will put their commitment to Secure Work into action within their organisations by meeting the following criteria. Charter members will provide evidence that employees have security over their income and can manage their work and non-work commitments more easily.

  1. Contracts that reflect actual hours worked. This includes the ability to have contracts reviewed and adjusted if actual hours regularly exceed or are below contracted hours, with zero-hours contracts only for those who request them. The review would take place after 12 weeks of employment and following that every six months.
  2. Guaranteed minimum number of hours in the advert, salary and job description for any role and no exclusive zero hour contracts.
  3. Where an employer is offering contracts to hourly-paid workers, they give four weeks’ notice of their working schedule (to aid household planning) and commit to pay for those hours in the event of cancellation. (This does not prevent an employer offering staff hours in addition to their contracted hours with less than four weeks’ notice.)
  4. After 12 weeks of continuous employment in a role, agency workers are offered the same pay and working conditions* as direct employees. After 12 weeks and then every six months, formal consideration is given to offering agency and temporary staff members a permanent position.
  5. Internship placements are paid at no less than the Real Living Wage.

The characteristics of a good employer

Flexible work
Real Living Wage
Engagement and voice