Shift work legislation on changing shift patterns

The UK government’s consultation and how employers can submit their views

Changing shift patterns – UK Government launches consultation affecting shift work

On 4th February 2026 the UK government launched a consultation around the proposed changes to ‘fire and rehire’ practices as part of the Employee Rights Act.

It is keen to hear views from employers, employees, and employee representatives on changes to expenses, benefits, and shift patterns; as well as understanding alternative options to these proposals and the impacts they might have on key stakeholders.

Whilst this is being looked at under ‘fire and rehire’, submitting views is important as it’s potentially a key change to shift work legislation.

In this instance, it is looking at whether shift patterns specified in employee contracts should be classed as a ‘protected variation’, meaning that employers cannot fire an employee and rehire them with updated conditions.

If an employee’s contract does not have a set shift pattern…or specifies the ability to make reasonable changes…or specifies operational hours the shift pattern can cover, then their organisation can continue to change shift patterns subject to the terms of the contract.

Potential challenges of these shift work legislative changes

Discussions with business and union stakeholders to date have highlighted a number of challenges with attempting to specify restricted variations to shift patterns in shift work regulations.

This includes the following which is detailed in the consultation materials:

– “Types of shift patterns, availability arrangements and scheduling procedures vary considerably. It may not be possible to identify common restrictions that are applicable to all situations without causing greater confusion among employers and employees.”

– “Some employees benefit from the possibility of changing their shifts; under some arrangements employees can get higher rates for changing their hours. The government should not inadvertently dissuade employers from offering such flexibility.”

– “Depending on an employee’s individual circumstances, even a small change in the times they are expected to work can have a significant effect on their arrangements and may require them to make alternative arrangements for caring responsibilities etc.

“However, this must be balanced with the need for employers to make reasonable business decisions. There are occasions when a business may need its employees to make reasonable adjustments to their schedule.

“It may therefore not be possible to identify a level of protection that both assures individuals that their prior commitments cannot be affected by schedule changes to their detriment, while giving employers the necessary flexibility for them to succeed and grow.”

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What changes to shift patterns is the government specifically looking at?

Below is a summary of the areas that have been included in the Make Work Pay, Fire and Rehire: changes to expenses, benefits, and shift patterns document.

1. Shift patterns as protected variations

The government wants to know whether certain changes to shift patterns should be protected as restricted variations including:

-Option 1: Shift changes from day to night working (or vice versa), and weekday to weekend working (or vice versa)

-Option 2: No types of shift pattern changes are in scope of the restricted variation of the timing or duration of a shift

It is also looking for suggestions of other types of shift pattern changes that should be protected.

As part of this, it is seeking to understand if it is accepted that night shift work is classed as 11 pm until 6 am, which reflects the key shift work legislation set out in The Working Time Regulations 1998.

Currently there is flexibility around the definition of ‘nighttime’, and we have seen this categorised in many different ways in 24 7 shift pattern environments.

ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) suggests an organisation can agree a different definition for ‘nighttime’ as long as it includes the five hours between 12 am and 5 am and is a minimum period of seven hours.

Typically, any changes may affect operational costs if night shift work attracts a higher shift premia than daytime working in an organisation.

Two key areas the consultation does not touch on which are key factors for night shift work are shift work fatigue and shift worker health.

For those with 24 hour operating environments and night time shift work, we have produced a useful guide on five areas of focus for shift worker fatigue and a separate one on shift worker nutrition.

2. Implications for employers

Government is also considering how protecting the above would impact employers, as well as any risks.

This is a complex area as organisations may be required to make changes to shift patterns to meet changes to demand, processes or a myriad of other important operational or strategic factors.

For example, where a contract is lost, a business may need to redeploy excess capacity to protect jobs.

This may involve moving some night shift patterns so that employees work during the day or move weekend working to mid-week.

Likewise, if demand for an organisation’s products or services grows, it may need to implement night shift working or move mid-week working to the weekend.

Some organisations with seasonal demand look to remain flexible and ensure shift patterns align to variable demand (i.e. changing from 24-hour operations five days a week, to 24 hour seven days a week during peak).

These dynamic shift work models are typically contractually compliant, but it is important that they are not adversely impacted by well-meaning shift work legislation change.

Executed well, these systems support the employer’s requirement but also provide benefits for shift workers through greater pay and benefits and extended time off during quieter periods.

There typically isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ shift pattern, and flexibility can currently be provided for employees. For example, where weekend working is introduced, employees with caring responsibilities who are unable to work those shift patterns could provide midweek cover instead.

This can also protect employers against falling foul of the Equality Act 2010 (also referred to later in this article).

Naturally, any organisational changes should be worked through via engagement between employer, employees and Trade Unions to reach the best outcomes

3. Contractual changes to shift patterns

The government has asked whether it should consider if there are amendments to contractual availability windows, whether they should be protected and for specific examples where this could be the case.

It is also looking for insights on how common it is for shift patterns to be specified in employment contracts and whether there are clauses that provide flexibility for employers to change an employee’s shift patterns without their agreement.
Our shift work experts have seen varying examples of the above.

Where organisations have multiple operations across the UK, we’ll often see differing contractual terms for shift workers doing the same roles (this is particularly prevalent with highly acquisitive businesses).

4. Implications on the Equality Act 2010

The government would like to know if any of the proposals could impact individuals under the Equality Act 2010.

When implemented poorly, shift pattern changes can indirectly or directly discriminate against people’s protected characteristics.

This could include shift workers with caring responsibilities, such as parents.

Any shift work legislation needs to be mindful of restricting an employer’s ability to change shift patterns to support an employees’ changing personal circumstances.

What next?

Organisations can submit their views on the impacts of this potential shift work legislation by the 1 April 2026.

You can view further detail here.

Naturally, we’ll be carefully considering our response and share this in due course.

Shift Work Assessment

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