Employment contract for a casual worker

Casual staff are engaged as the work arises, with no promise of hours on either side, and the contract has to make that arrangement work within rules that have tightened and are tightening further: workers' rights to the minimum wage and holiday from the first shift, a ban on exclusivity clauses, a right for regular casuals to be offered guaranteed hours as the 2025 Act comes into force, and the risk that a casual who works regular shifts for long enough is an employee with the rights that follow. I draft that contract for the employer for a fixed fee of £595, delivered in five working days, as a template for casual staff.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales in hospitality, events, retail, care, logistics and any business that engages staff as and when needed, who want a casual contract that reflects the arrangement and complies with the rules.

What matters in a casual worker's contract

Worker or employee and why the label does not decide it

A casual who agrees to work when offered shifts and personally performs the work is at least a worker under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, with the minimum wage, holiday and protection from discrimination from the first shift, and may be an employee during each engagement or across them if the pattern shows mutual obligations; the contract should describe the casual arrangement (no obligation to offer, none to accept) and the business should run it that way, because a casual who is rostered every week, expected to attend and disciplined for refusing is an employee whatever the contract says, with continuity accruing across the engagements.

No obligation to offer or accept work

The contract should say that the business is not obliged to offer work, that the worker is not obliged to accept it, that each engagement is a separate period of work on the contract's terms, that the worker may work for others, and that an accepted shift is a commitment with a stated notice for cancellation on either side; the written particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 must say that hours are variable and how they are determined, and a contract that promises no hours should not then set a rota the worker cannot refuse.

The ban on exclusivity and the guaranteed hours that are coming

Section 27A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 makes unenforceable any term in a zero-hours contract that prevents the worker working for others or requires the employer's consent to do so, and the Employment Rights Act 2025 adds rights for zero-hours and low-hours workers, including a right to be offered a guaranteed hours contract reflecting the hours regularly worked over a reference period, reasonable notice of shifts and payment for shifts cancelled at short notice, on a timetable the regulations set; the contract should contain no exclusivity, should set the shift notice and cancellation terms in advance, and should be reviewed when the guaranteed hours provisions come into force.

Pay, holiday and the minimum wage for irregular hours

Casual staff are paid for the hours worked at or above the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 rate including time the business requires them to be on the premises, and accrue holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998 as amended, which allow an employer to pay rolled-up holiday pay to irregular hours workers as an uplift on each payslip where the contract provides for it and the payslip shows it separately, or to calculate accrued leave as a percentage of hours worked; the contract should choose the method, state it, and say how holiday is taken or paid, because unpaid holiday is the commonest casual worker claim.

Each engagement and continuity between them

The contract should say whether it is an umbrella agreement under which each shift is a separate engagement, so that the worker's statutory continuity does not run between shifts, or a continuing contract, recognising that gaps of less than a week do not break continuity under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and that regular work builds the service that gives an employee the right to claim unfair dismissal and redundancy; the business should keep records of the shifts offered, accepted and declined, which are the evidence of a casual arrangement if it is ever tested.

The particulars, conduct and ending the arrangement

The contract supplies the written particulars on day one, states the pay rate and interval, the holiday method, sick pay where the worker qualifies under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, pension assessment under the Pensions Act 2008 for each engagement, conduct standards and the right to stop offering work for breaches, confidentiality and the return of property, and a short notice to end the arrangement on either side; it should not contain a disciplinary procedure that treats the casual as an employee if the business wants the arrangement to remain casual, and it should refer to the handbook for the policies that apply to everyone.

What it costs

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Our casual staff work most weeks. Are they employees?

Possibly, if the pattern shows that the business expects them to attend and they expect work. The contract describes a casual arrangement; the business has to run one, and the records of shifts offered and declined are the evidence.

Can we stop casual staff working for a competitor?

You cannot. Exclusivity terms in zero-hours contracts are unenforceable by statute, and the contract contains none. The protection for the business is confidentiality and conduct standards.

How do we pay holiday to someone whose hours change every week?

By rolled-up holiday pay shown separately on each payslip, or by accruing leave as a percentage of hours worked, as the amended regulations allow. The contract states the method the business chooses.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Settlement agreements for employers, £795
• Contractor agreement for an events crew member

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.