From 6 October 2026, qualifying workers and employees can demand more predictable terms in writing. This is separate from the new right to request predictable hours that launched on the same date.

Predictable terms at work: what changes on 6 October

Updated 6 October 2026

If your rota lands on a Friday for the following week, or your employer quietly moves your shift pattern without asking, the law has caught up. From 6 October 2026 you can write asking for more predictable terms around where, when and how long you work, and the employer must deal with that request in a set way. You can ask about: the place or places you are required to work from the hours you are required to work the days of the week you are required to work the length of notice your employer gives for shifts or working time This is the predictable terms route, not to be confused with the separate predictable hours request right that opened on the same day. They sit side by side and protect different things.

Who can use the predictable terms right from 6 October 2026

You can use this right if you are an employee or a worker, and you have at least 26 weeks of continuous service with the same employer on or after 6 October 2026. The service test is straightforward: count back from the date you send the request and check that your start date is at least 26 weeks earlier. If you have just changed jobs within the same employer, the original start date usually counts.

Agency workers, zero hours workers, casual workers on a bank arrangement, and salaried employees on a variable pattern are all in scope as long as the 26 week test is met. The right is personal to you, so it does not need to be raised collectively through a union or alongside colleagues, although nothing stops you from doing so.

There is no minimum number of hours you need to work each week to qualify. The test is on the length of the relationship and the existence of a working pattern that can in principle be made more predictable, not on the volume of work you do.

You do not need to show that the current pattern is bad, unfair, or exploitative. The right is about predictability itself, not about whether the hours are fair. That is a separate claim.

What actually counts as a predictable term

There are four items you can ask about, and you can pick one or more in a single request. The first is the place or places you are required to work from. If you are sent to three different sites across the week, you can ask for that to be fixed or narrowed. The second is the number of hours you are required to work. If your contract says 16 to 30 hours with no real anchor, you can ask for a fixed figure or a tighter band.

The third is the days of the week you are required to work. If you currently work any five of seven and never know which, you can ask for a fixed day pattern, such as Tuesday to Saturday or three set days a week. The fourth is the amount of notice your employer gives for shifts. The right to a minimum notice period for shifts is the part of this reform that many workers will feel first, because the previous default was nothing at all.

You can also ask for a combination in one letter, for example asking to fix both the days and the shift notice period. You cannot ask for items outside the four. Pay, rate of pay, overtime premium, and the type of work you do are not within scope and have to be dealt with under other routes such as a written statement variation or a contractual dispute.

How to send a predictable terms request in writing

The request must be in writing and dated. Email is fine, and counts as writing for these purposes. A letter handed to a manager is also fine, but email gives you a timestamp which is useful if a dispute later arises about the one month response window. You should keep the request simple, name the term you want to change, and state what outcome you are asking for.

There is no prescribed form, but the law expects you to identify which of the four items you are asking about and the change you want. A request that simply says I want more predictability with no further detail is weak. A request that says I am asking that the days of the week I am required to work be fixed to Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and that shift notice be at least 14 days, gives the employer something concrete to respond to.

Send the request to your manager or to whoever handles HR. Save the email, note the date, and start counting the one month response clock from the day after it was sent. If the response window straddles a long absence such as paternity leave or a period of sick leave, the clock is paused in some cases and you should check the rules on extensions.

If your employer agrees, the change should be recorded in writing. The reform of the written statement rules on the same date means an updated written statement should follow, but even before that obligation lands you should ask for confirmation in writing of any agreed change so it forms part of your terms.

What the employer must do once you send the request

The employer has one calendar month to respond, starting the day after the request is received. The response must be in writing and must either agree to the request, agree to a modified version, or refuse the request with reasons. A non-response is treated as a refusal, and that is where most tribunal cases on this type of right are likely to arise.

If the employer agrees, the change is treated as a variation of contract from the agreed date, and you work to the new term from that point. If the employer offers a modified version, for example agreeing to fix the days but not the shift notice period, the response should set out what is on offer and you can accept or reject. You do not have to accept a modified version.

If the employer refuses, the response must give reasons and explain the grounds for refusal. Acceptable grounds under the draft regulations are narrow: the burden of additional cost, the inability to reorganise work among other staff, the impact on the ability to meet customer demand, and the unsuitability of the change given the nature of the role. A vague refusal is not enough.

You can only make one predictable terms request in any 12 month period. The employer cannot push you into a corner by refusing the first request and then relying on a second request from 12 months later. The clock for the next request starts when the response is received, or when the one month window passes with no response.

What to do if the employer refuses or ignores the request

If the employer refuses without good reasons, or simply fails to respond within the month, the next step is usually a written chase. Send a follow up email referring to the original request, the date it was sent, and the deadline that has passed. Ask for a substantive response under the right and give a short window of, say, seven days. This puts the matter on the record and is the kind of evidence tribunal panels will look at first.

If the chase also fails, or if the refusal is not properly reasoned, you can bring a claim in the employment tribunal. The claim is for failure to follow the procedure, not for the right to be granted. Even where the tribunal cannot force the employer to agree to a change, it can award compensation for the procedural failure and the stress and inconvenience that flowed from it.

The compensation framework is still bedding in but the expected bands, based on the consultation version of the regulations, are based on a multiple of the statutory minimum notice period, with a cap. Acas has published guidance on the dispute resolution process and you can use the early conciliation route before issuing a claim, which gives you an extra month on the time limit.

You should also consider whether the refusal is so unreasonable that it amounts to a breach of the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence, because that can be the basis of a constructive dismissal claim for employees who have the qualifying service. The two routes are not mutually exclusive but you should usually pick the cleanest one to run with.

What to do in the meantime

From now and into October, write down your current working pattern over a four week period, including days, hours, sites and notice given. That is your evidence base and will be useful if you need to show what is unpredictable about your current terms.

Decide which of the four items you want to ask about, and pick the one that would make the most difference. A focused single item request is harder to refuse than a long list. Draft the request in plain English, name the term, state the change you want, and keep a copy.

Send the request by email after 6 October 2026, and if your employer already has an HR portal, copy the request into a message there as well so there is a clear audit trail. Start counting the one month response window from the day after the email is received.

If you work under a zero hours or casual arrangement, read the related guidance on the 2025 and 2026 zero hours reforms which give you overlapping rights on exclusivity and guaranteed hours, and on the predictable hours request route which is the second track open to you on the same date.

If you are a member of a trade union, raise the request through your rep so the response is logged centrally and the union can support a challenge to a bad refusal. Under the new trade union time off right from 30 October 2026, your rep will have a stronger statutory footing to deal with this type of request on your behalf.

This post covers the predictable terms right that comes into force on 6 October 2026 under the Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 and accompanying guidance. It is general information for workers and employees in Great Britain, not legal advice. Acas and the Department for Business and Trade guidance is the next port of call for your specific situation.