Member

Conversely, if the threshold is set too low, particularly when combined with an excessively long reference period, businesses will face a constant churn of reassessing and amending employment contracts. This administrative burden would divert resources away from core operations, disrupt workforce stability and erode the very flexibility needed to respond to seasonal peaks, staff turnover and fluctuating consumer demand, particularly in the convenience and service sectors. Moreover, setting the threshold poorly could have serious unintended consequences for workers. There is a real risk that if the rules around low hours are unclear or overly restrictive, employers may be discouraged from offering low-hours roles altogether. That could shut out individuals from the workforce: those who, for very legitimate reasons, such as caring responsibilities, disabilities or study, may be able to work only for a limited number of hours per week. We should not inadvertently deny these workers opportunities to participate in the labour market.