The Employment
The Challenges Social Care Providers Now Face
The Employment Rights Act is set to bring significant changes to the UK workforce, with a primary focus on ending zero-hours contracts.
For the social care sector, and particularly for domiciliary care providers, these changes will have a profound impact on how workforces are managed.
Here is a breakdown of what the legislation means in practice and how it aims to end “one-sided flexibility.”
1. The Right to Guaranteed Hours
The core of this legislation is ensuring that employers cannot be the only ones defining working hours. In practice, this introduces a new requirement for assessing contracts against reality.
How it works:
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The Qualifying Period: After a specific period, likely 12 weeks, employers will be required to assess their workforce.
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The Assessment: You must look at the average hours an employee has actually worked during that period.
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The Offer: If an employee’s average hours differ from their contracted hours, the employer must offer a contract that guarantees those hours.
In practice: If you have a domiciliary care worker officially on a zero-hours contract, but they have worked an average of 40 hours a week over the last 12 weeks, you will be required to offer them a guaranteed 40-hour contract. This moves the worker away from insecurity and ensures their contract reflects their actual contribution.
2. Protections Against Shift Cancellations
The Act also introduces protections regarding shift cancellations, addressing a common issue in the sector.
Currently, flexibility often favors the employer. Under the new legislation, it is expected that employers will need to provide a minimum notice period—likely 48 hours—before cancelling a shift.
If an employer fails to provide this notice, they will likely be required to pay the employee for that shift regardless. This is set to be particularly impactful in domiciliary care, where schedule changes and cancellations are frequent.
3. The Impact on “Bank” and Agency Staff
Many care providers rely heavily on internal “bank” staff to manage fluctuations in demand. These staff members often operate on zero-hours contracts to provide that necessary buffer.
However, the new legislation poses a challenge to this model. If a bank staff member works regular shifts over the 12-week qualifying period, they may become eligible for a guaranteed hours contract. This transition could make maintaining a traditional staff bank much more difficult, as the flexibility that defines that role is reduced.
4. What Employers Need to Do
For social care providers, preparation is key. To remain compliant and manage these changes smoothly, providers will need:
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Clear Systems: You must have simple, robust systems in place to assess the hours your teams are working.
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Automation: Manual tracking will be risky and time-consuming. Automation will be essential to document the 12-week periods and ensure the process of offering guaranteed hours is smooth and compliant.
These changes represent a major shift in employment rights, aiming to bring stability to workers. For social care leaders, the focus now must be on implementing the technology and processes needed to adapt to this new landscape.