Section 27BD Employment Rights Act 1996

Section 27BD of the Employment Rights Act 1996 is about Guaranteed hours offer: exceptions to duty to make offer and withdrawal of offer. It provides as follows:

(1) The duty imposed by section 27BA(1) on an employer in relation to a qualifying worker does not apply if during the relevant reference period or the offer period there is a relevant termination of—

(a)the worker’s contract under which the qualifying worker has been working for the employer, or

(b)the arrangement in accordance with the terms of which the qualifying worker has been working for the employer.

(2)A guaranteed hours offer made by an employer to a qualifying worker is to be treated as having been withdrawn if during the response period there is a relevant termination of—

(a)the worker’s contract under which the qualifying worker has been working for the employer, or

(b)the arrangement in accordance with the terms of which the qualifying worker has been working for the employer.

(3)Where a qualifying worker works for an employer under more than one worker’s contract, or in accordance with the terms of more than one arrangement, during—

(a)the relevant reference period,

(b)the offer period, or

(c)the response period,

the references in subsections (1) and (2) to the worker’s contract or (as the case may be) the arrangement are to the worker’s contract under which, or (as the case may be) the arrangement in accordance with the terms of which, the qualifying worker last worked for the employer before the end of the period in question.
(4)There is a relevant termination of a worker’s contract entered into between a qualifying worker and an employer if—

(a)the qualifying worker terminates (with or without notice) the worker’s contract otherwise than in circumstances in which the worker is entitled to terminate it without notice by reason of the employer’s conduct,

(b)the employer terminates (with or without notice) the worker’s contract and—

(i)the employer’s reason for doing so (or, if more than one, the employer’s principal reason for doing so) is a qualifying reason, and

(ii)in the circumstances (including the size and administrative resources of the employer’s undertaking) the employer acts reasonably in treating the reason (or the principal reason) as a sufficient reason for terminating the contract, or

(c)the worker’s contract terminates by virtue of a limiting event and it was reasonable for the contract to have been entered into as a limited-term contract.

(5)There is a relevant termination of an arrangement entered into between a qualifying worker and an employer if—

(a)the qualifying worker or the employer terminates the arrangement and the termination is equivalent to a termination falling within subsection (4)(a) or (b), or

(b)the arrangement was not intended to be permanent and the termination of it is equivalent to a termination falling within subsection (4)(c).

(6)The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for the duty imposed by section 27BA(1) not to apply in relation to a reference period, or for a guaranteed hours offer that has been made to be treated as having been withdrawn, in other specified circumstances.

(7)In exercising the power under subsection (6) the Secretary of State must, in particular, have regard to—

(a)the benefit to workers of receiving a guaranteed hours offer under this Chapter, and

(b)the desirability of preventing this Chapter from having a significant adverse effect on employers who are dealing with exceptional circumstances.

(8)Where, by virtue of subsection (2), a guaranteed hours offer made by an employer to a qualifying worker is treated as having been withdrawn, the employer must, by no later than the end of the response period, give a notice to the qualifying worker stating this to be the case.

(9)Where, by virtue of regulations under subsection (6)—

(a)an employer who would otherwise have been subject to the duty imposed by section 27BA(1) in relation to a qualifying worker and a particular reference period is not required to make a guaranteed hours offer to the qualifying worker, or

(b)a guaranteed hours offer made by an employer to a qualifying worker is treated as having been withdrawn,

the employer must give a notice to the qualifying worker that states which provision of the regulations has produced the effect referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) (as the case may be).
(10)A notice under subsection (9) must be given by an employer to a qualifying worker—

(a)where it is required to be given by virtue of paragraph (a) of that subsection, by no later than the end of the offer period;

(b)where it is required to be given by virtue of paragraph (b) of that subsection, by no later than the end of the response period.

(11)The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about—

(a)the form and manner in which a notice under subsection (8) or (9) must be given;

(b)when a notice under subsection (8) or (9) is to be treated as having been given.

(12)For the purposes of subsection (4)(c) (and subsection (5)(b), which applies subsection (4)(c))—

(a)subsection (9) of section 27BB (when it is reasonable for a worker’s contract to be entered into as a limited-term contract) applies as it applies for the purposes of that section;

(b)it is to be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, that it was not reasonable for the worker’s contract to have been entered into as a limited-term contract if the work done by the qualifying worker under the worker’s contract was of the same or a similar nature as the work done under another worker’s contract under which the qualifying worker worked for the employer—

(i)where the period in question is the relevant reference period, during that period;

(ii)where the period in question is the offer period, during that period or the relevant reference period;

(iii)where the period in question is the response period, during that period, the relevant reference period or the offer period.

(13)In this section—

“the offer period”, in relation to a qualifying worker and the qualifying worker’s employer, means the period beginning with the day after the day on which the relevant reference period ends and ending with—
(a)
the day on which a guaranteed hours offer is made to the qualifying worker by the employer, or

(b)
if no guaranteed hours offer is made before the day specified under section 27BB(11)(a) as the last day on which the employer may make such an offer to the qualifying worker, that last day;

“qualifying reason” means—
(a)
a reason of the type mentioned in section 98(1)(b), or

(b)
in relation to a worker who was not an employee immediately before ceasing to be employed, a reason that would be of the type mentioned in section 98(1)(b) if references in that provision and in section 98(2) and (3) to an employee were references to a worker;

“the response period”, in relation to a guaranteed hours offer made to a qualifying worker, means the period—
(a)
beginning with the day after the day on which the offer is made, and

(b) ending with the specified day.

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Source: legislation.gov.uk
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