Employment Rights Act: what the reforms could mean for healthcare staffing 

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces new rights for workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts, and we know many of our customers are already asking what this could mean in practice. For organisations that rely on flexible, bank, agency or contingent staffing models, the detail will be particularly important. 

Three linked measures sit at the heart of the changes: guaranteed hours reflecting hours regularly worked, reasonable notice of shifts and shift changes, and payments when a shift is cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice. This article sets out what is changing, what remains undecided and what health and care employers can review now, alongside how RLDatix is continuing to support customers as the reforms develop. 

What is changing under the Employment Rights Act? 

The Act establishes three staffing-related rights for qualifying workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts: 

• Guaranteed hours reflecting the hours a worker has actually and regularly worked over a defined reference period. 

• Reasonable notice of shifts and of any changes to previously scheduled shifts. 

• Payments for shifts cancelled, shortened or moved at short notice. 

The Act also extends equivalent protections to agency workers, preventing employers from sidestepping the new duties by engaging staff through an agency rather than directly. 

The principle of guaranteed hours, reasonable notice and cancellation pay is now settled in legislation. However, the operational detail, including reference period lengths, the minimum notice counted as “reasonable” and the scale of cancellation payments, is not yet fixed. The government’s “Make Work Pay: ending one-sided flexibility” consultation ran from 2 June to 25 August 2026, and at the time of writing the government is analysing responses and has not published the secondary legislation that will set the actual thresholds. 

Separately, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) reforms took effect on 6 April 2026, removing the waiting period and expanding eligibility. The guaranteed hours and shift notice measures are on a different timetable and are generally expected to come into force from 2027.

What could the reforms mean for bank and agency staffing? 

Health and care services manage variable demand around the clock. The ability to adjust shifts at short notice and deploy bank and agency workers flexibly is central to maintaining safe care. 

If the reforms proceed as proposed, organisations may need to review how they track working patterns, communicate shift offers and changes, and record cancellations across different worker groups. Bank and agency arrangements are likely to be affected in different ways, so understanding which obligations fall on the employer directly and which involve the agency or hirer will matter. 

NHS Employers has raised significant concerns. In its consultation response, it estimates the proposals could require more than 800 additional administrative staff and around 610 whole-time equivalent managers across the NHS in England, and could create around £900 million in recurring annual costs. The body has proposed measures to make the reforms more workable, including exemptions for substantive NHS employees undertaking additional bank work and for emergency staffing arrangements. These remain proposals, not confirmed policy. 

Many of the same questions will be relevant across wider health and care settings, not only within the NHS.

What should healthcare employers review now? 

While final implementation details are still to come, organisations can begin reviewing current workforce information and processes. These are practical preparation activities, not a definitive compliance checklist. 

• Working patterns: Consider whether teams can access reliable data on hours worked and recurring staffing patterns across bank, agency and other flexible worker groups. Workers with broadly consistent hours are most likely to fall within the guaranteed-hours regime. 

• Shift notice and changes: Review how shift offers, changes and cancellations are recorded, including when workers are notified. Tightening rota discipline now will improve staff experience and reduce the compliance gap once notice and compensation rules take effect. 

• Responsibilities and information: Identify how workforce, HR, payroll and staffing providers share information today. Where records sit across multiple teams or systems, clarify who holds what data and how it flows. 

A common question from customers is whether existing workforce data is detailed enough to track the patterns the new rules will require. Even before thresholds are confirmed, understanding what your systems already capture can highlight gaps and inform planning.

How is RLDatix supporting customers as the reforms develop? 

In July 2026, we hosted a webinar looking at the Employment Rights changes and what they could mean for contingent workforce management. At that stage, with further consultation still to take place, our main focus was on Statutory Sick Pay and how customers can use RLDatix solutions to support SSP management today. Existing RLDatix temporary staffing functionality already supports the tracking of worker assignments, shift records and pay data that underpins SSP compliance. 

Since then, the government consultation on the wider reforms has closed, and we are continuing to monitor the areas that will shape what comes next: 

• Worker eligibility criteria and the definition of “low hours” 

• Guaranteed hours reference periods and calculation methods 

• Notice and cancellation rules for bank and agency arrangements 

• Sector guidance from NHS Employers and other bodies 

• Implementation dates and transitional arrangements 

As more information becomes available, we will continue to assess what it means for our customers across health and care, and for the RLDatix solutions that support contingent workforce management. 

Stay informed about healthcare workforce reforms 

The reforms are broader than any single sector. Whether you operate within the NHS or across wider health and care, the same core areas apply: predictability of hours, notice of shifts, cancellation payments and the evolving timetable for implementation. 

We will use our Employment Rights Act hub to share updates as the reforms progress, so you can keep track of what is changing and when you may need to take action. There you will find guidance, webinar recordings and practical resources.