New Section 27BD of the ERA 1996 makes provisions around exceptions from the duty on employers to offer guaranteed hours. It also makes provisions about circumstances in which the offer of guaranteed hours may be treated as having been withdrawn.
	Subsection (1) provides that the duty to offer guaranteed hours does not apply if – during the reference period or offer period – the worker’s contract, or their working arrangement with their employer, is terminated and the termination is a ‘relevant termination’.
	Subsection (2) provides that, where the employer has already given an offer of guaranteed hours, the offer will be treated as having been withdrawn if the worker’s contract (or their working arrangement with their employer) is terminated during the response period; and that termination is a ‘relevant termination’.
	Subsection (3) clarifies which contract or arrangement needs to be considered when a worker works for an employer under more than one worker’s contract or arrangement during the relevant reference, offer or response period. It clarifies that where a relevant termination takes place of the contract or arrangement that the worker last worked for before the end of the relevant reference, offer or responses period, the duty to make a guaranteed hours offer does not apply, or a guaranteed hours offer that has been made is to be treated as withdrawn.
	Subsection (4) provides that there is a relevant termination if:
the qualifying worker terminated their contract (resigned), for a reason they were entitled to resign for, apart from where they have resigned because of their employer’s conduct, OR
the employer terminated the worker’s contract fora qualifying reason(s) for doing so (a reason of the type mentioned in Section 98(1)(b) of the ERA 1996) and the employer acted reasonably in the circumstances, in treating the reason as sufficient for terminating the contract i.e. the dismissal was not unfair as per section 98 of ERA 1996, OR
the worker’s limited-term contract ended due to a limiting event, and it was reasonable for it to have been a limited-term contract e.g. to perform a specific task and the worker has completed that task.
	Subsection (5) provides other circumstances that will be considered a relevant termination where there is an arrangement between a qualifying worker and employer and whether the worker or employer terminates the arrangement would be done in an equivalent way to the termination of a worker’s contract would be considered a relevant termination under subsection (4)(a) and (b). Or if the arrangement was not intended to be permanent and the termination is equivalent to a termination under subsection 4(c).
	Subsection (6) provides that regulations may specify circumstances where there are exceptions to the duty to offer guaranteed hours (s. 27BA(1)) in relation to a reference period. Where one of these exceptions applies and an offer for guaranteed hours has already been made, the offer of guaranteed hours will be treated as withdrawn. The exceptions apply only in relation to each reference period rather than being open-ended exceptions that apply continuously.
	Subsection (7) sets out a non-exhaustive list of matters that the Secretary of State must have particular regard to when exercising the power to make exceptions. The matters are:
the benefit to workers of receiving a guaranteed hours offer under provisions relating to the right to guaranteed hours, and
the desirability of preventing the same provisions from having a significant adverse effect on employers who are dealing with exceptional circumstances.
	Subsections (8)- provides that where an offer has been made and subsequently is treated as withdrawn, the employer must notify the worker that the offer is treated as withdrawn by no later than the end of the response period.
	Subsection (9) provide that where an exception applies by virtue of the regulations made under 27BD(6) so that either the duty to provide a guaranteed hours offer does not apply or that an offer should be treated as withdrawn, the employer must notify the worker of this, setting out which provision of the regulations made under 27BD(6) makes them except from the duty.
	Subsection (10) provides that where the employer is excepted from its duty as a result of regulations made under s. 27BD(6), a notice stating that the duty to make a guaranteed hours offer does not apply must be given to a worker by no later than the end of the offer period; and a notice advising of the withdrawal of an offer must be given to a worker no later than the end of the response period.
	Subsection (11) provides for the Secretary of State to make regulations which set out the form and manner in which notices must be given under s. 27BD(8) or (9), and when a notice is treated as having been given under s. 27BD(8) or (9).
	Subsection (12)(a) provides that, when determining whether there is a relevant termination when a worker’s contract or arrangement is for a limited term and the term has come to an end under subsection (4)(c) or (5)(b) of Section 27BD, subsection (9) of Section 27BB should be applied, which sets out the circumstances in which it would be reasonable for a worker’s contract to be entered into as a limited-term contract.
	For the same purposes, subsection (12)(b) provides that, it will be presumed that a limited term contract has not been entered into reasonably, where a worker works for an employer under more than one limited-term worker’s contract to undertake the same or similar work during the reference, offer or response periods., This presumption will prevail in these circumstances unless the employer can show the contrary i.e. the successive limited-term contracts were reasonably entered into. In such cases where the limited term contract is presumed to not have been entered into reasonably, the end of such limited term contract will not be considered as a relevant termination under the requirements of s. 27BD(4)(c) and (5)(b), and the employer will not be excepted from its duty to make a guaranteed hours offer.
	Subsection (13) provides definitions for ‘the offer period’, ‘qualifying reason’ and ‘the response period’. The offer period begins with the day after the day on which the relevant reference period ends. It ends with the day on which the guaranteed hours offer is made or – if no offer is made – the last day on which the employer may make a guaranteed hours offer as set out in regulations under s. 27BB(119)(a). A qualifying reason is a reason of the type mentioned in Section 98(1)(b) of the ERA 1996 (read, if necessary, as if it applied to workers where they are not employees). The response period begins with the day after the day the offer is made, and ends with a day specified in regulations (i.e. the length of the response period will be specified in regulations).
Part 1: Employment Rights Zero hours workers, etc New Section 27BD