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Set up a zero-hour contract

You can set up a zero-hour contract, so you only pay your employee for the work they actually do.

Written by Relu

To set up a zero-hour contract, you will need to set the employee up to be paid via hours or shifts worked rather than contracted hours or shifts.
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Common reasons

It is mainly used for flexible staff where hours aren’t guaranteed and pay depends on the work they actually complete.

Most used reasons include:

  • Casual or agency workers: they only work when needed, so there are no guaranteed hours.

  • Apprentices or temporary staff: their hours can vary week to week.

  • Pay based on actual work done, they’re paid through things like:

    • rota hours

    • timesheets

    • payroll claims

Because their contract hours are set to 0, the system won’t calculate pay from contracted hours. Instead, payment only happens when hours or claims are submitted. If nothing is submitted, they won’t be paid.

Set up a zero‑hour contract

To set up a zero-hour contract, follow the steps below:

  1. Click Admin Menu then click All Employees.

  2. Click Add Person in the top‑right then enter the employee’s details and continue through the setup.

  3. On the Payment stage, click Edit next to the Paid field.

  4. Choose For hours or shifts worked, then select how they’ll be paid:
    • Hours from Rota
    • Hours from Timesheet
    • Payroll Claims

  5. Click Done then enter 0 in Contract Hours and Contract Days.

  6. Enter the correct FTE Hours then click Next and complete the remaining steps.

  7. Click Submit to create the employee.

This setup is required because if contract hours are 0, the employee must be paid from hours worked rota, timesheets, or claims rather than contracted hours.

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