British Retail Consortium warns guaranteed-hours rules could cut retail entry-level jobs

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that the Government's proposed guaranteed-hours rules under the Employment Rights Act could reduce retail flexibility and cut entry-level jobs ahead of the measures taking effect in January 2027.

BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said the proposals risk deterring employers from hiring at a time when more than a million young people are out of work or education.

Under the Employment Rights Act, which received Royal Assent in December 2025, employers must offer zero-hours and low-hours workers contracts with guaranteed hours and provide reasonable notice of shifts, changes or cancellations. The Government has indicated a 12-week reference period for calculating the hours to be guaranteed.

The BRC argues that 12 weeks is too short for a sector shaped by seasonal trading. "Given the seasonal nature of retail work, particularly in the run up to Christmas, anything below 26 weeks will give retailers little choice but to reduce the number of flexible roles during busier periods," the group said.

On the low-hours threshold, the BRC said an eight-hour cap would be reasonable. Classifying contracts of up to 20 hours as low-hours would be "disproportionate" and could force businesses to repeatedly offer permanent contracts to hundreds of thousands of workers. Some 55% of retail roles are part-time, compared with a UK average of 33%.

The BRC also said that requiring up to four weeks' notice for shift changes would be out of step with the realities of store trading.

"With over a million young people out of work or education, government cannot afford to get this wrong. Crack down on bad employers by all means, but not by adding costs and rules that deter good employers from hiring in the first place," Dickinson said.

"Retail is a lifeline into work for hundreds of thousands of young people each year. But if government piles on cost and risk, many of those entry-level jobs won't be there in future."

Office for National Statistics data shows the number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training rose to 1,012,000 between January and March 2026, up 89,000 year-on-year.

Usdaw, the shopworkers' union, takes a different view. General secretary Joanne Thomas said the Act "helps to protect decent employers from being undercut by the worst who exploit workers" and that tackling precarious employment is "good for the economy, growth and individual workers."

The guaranteed-hours measures form part of the government's Plan to Make Work Pay, with implementation set for January 2027. Retailers have limited time to shape the final regulations before seasonal staffing plans for next year are locked in.