Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill

The Bill Gained Royal Assent on 19 September 2023 but it is yet to be enacted. It will give workers the right to request a predictable working pattern. 

The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill is a private members’ bill that aims to provide workers on flexible or casual contracts, including those on zero hours contracts, with more predictable working patterns.

The Act operates in a similar way to flexible working requests – a worker will be able to make two requests for predictable terms in any 12-month period and will not be able to make any other statutory applications (such as a flexible working request), while an existing application is live.

A worker’s request will need to say it’s an application for predicted working and include certain minimum information (outline what they’re seeking in relation to the predictability of their working pattern and give a proposed start date). The employer will need to deal with the request within one month of the request being made.

The employer will be able to reject the request on specific business grounds, such as a detrimental impact on the employer’s business, planned structural changes, or insufficient work during the periods that the worker proposes to work.