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Employee WellbeingEmerging

When flexibility only flows one way, regulation follows

Surfaced by the GAPTIQ engineJune 18, 2026 · 5 min read

Zero-hours contracts pushed scheduling risk entirely onto workers, and the apps never touched the income guarantee. Now the UK has legislated guaranteed hours. The gap is the model that gives workers security and keeps employers the flexibility they need.

The call, up front. Zero-hours contracts (jobs with no guaranteed hours) work for employers because they offload the risk of uneven demand onto workers as unpredictable income. Scheduling apps optimized the flexibility and never touched the guarantee, so the instability stayed. Now the UK has legislated: the Employment Rights Act 2025 will force employers to offer guaranteed hours. The gap is the model that delivers worker income security and keeps the demand-matching flexibility (staffing to match demand) employers actually need.

1.23MUK workers on zero-hours contracts, a record high
12 weeksThe reference period (past window) the government will use to calculate guaranteed hours
32%Of workers get less than a week's notice of their shifts

The gap

The structural imbalance is bargaining power: employers set unpredictable schedules, workers absorb the swings in income. Software made the rota (the staff schedule) efficient and left the guarantee untouched. The real blocker is a model that delivers income stability without erasing the demand-matching employers rely on.

Exhibit 1Zero-hours work is concentrated, not spread: nearly a third of hospitality runs on it
Accommodation & food
32.2%
Transport, arts & other
16.1%
Health & social work
14.7%
Education
8.8%
Wholesale & retail
6.2%
Public administration
2.4%
So what

The buyer is obvious and concentrated. Build the income-guarantee layer for shift-based employers (starting with hospitality) and you sell into the exact sectors the mandate hits hardest, before the 2027 duty forces a scramble.

Source: ONS Labour Force Survey, Apr–Jun 2024, via House of Commons Library SN06553

Share of each sector's workforce on a zero-hours contract, ONS Labour Force Survey April–June 2024 (House of Commons Library briefing SN06553). UK figures. The Employment Rights Act 2025 duty to offer guaranteed hours is expected to take effect in 2027 via secondary regulations.

Exhibit 2The opening is the income-guarantee layer the apps skipped
Secure-and-flexible shift work
Zero-hours contractslegislated against
Maximum employer flexibility, income risk on the worker
Scheduling appsinsufficient
Optimized the rota, left the guarantee untouched
Income-guarantee layerTHE OPENING
Hours floor + demand pooling + compliant flexibility

Source: GAPTIQ engine: challenge decomposition

Exhibit 3The mandate went from bill to law in fourteen months
  1. Oct 2024Employment Rights Bill introduced, including a right to guaranteed hours
  2. Jul 2025Government roadmap places guaranteed-hours in the 2027 wave
  3. Dec 2025Royal Assent (the bill becomes law): the Employment Rights Act 2025
  4. 2027Duty to offer guaranteed hours, shift notice and cancellation pay starts

Source: House of Commons Library CBP-10109; GOV.UK roadmap (Feb 2026); Employment Rights Act 2025

The move

Regulation is about to make income guarantees mandatory, not optional. Software made the rota efficient but left over a million workers unsure what they’ll earn next week. Whoever builds the guaranteed-hours model (income floors, demand pooling across employers, compliant flexibility) sells into every shift-based employer, and into the most exposed sectors first, before the 2027 duty forces the scramble.

Source: Implementing the Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update, GOV.UK, 2026; Employment Rights Act 2025. Surfaced by the GAPTIQ engine.

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Marius Suteu

Founder & principal analyst · Dankaro Solutions

Runs GAPTIQ coverage end to end: reads the sources, sets the bar a signal must clear, and writes the call.

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