Irregular hours holiday pay calculator
Holiday pay for zero-hours, casual and part-year workers, worked out the two ways GOV.UK sets out: the average week’s pay over the last 52 weeks with pay, or rolled-up holiday pay each pay period.
How it is worked out
Two lawful ways. The employer chooses, and tells the worker which.
- Paid time off. Holiday builds up as hours worked, and a week of leave is paid at the average week’s pay over the last 52 weeks with pay. All of it is at normal pay, regular overtime and commission included.
- Rolled-up holiday pay. A share of each pay period’s pay is paid as holiday pay with the wages, shown separately on the payslip, and the leave they take is then not paid again.
How much holiday they build up is in our holiday entitlement calculator and our guide to irregular-hours holiday. From GOV.UK: Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024, read on 31 October 2026.
KivoHR shows the rules as the government publishes them. It is not legal advice.
Holiday pay from the hours they worked
KivoHR builds an irregular-hours worker’s holiday from the hours they clock, and works out each week of leave’s pay from the weeks it sent payroll, with the weeks it skipped listed.
Irregular hours holiday pay questions.
Who is an irregular-hours or part-year worker?
Someone whose paid hours in each pay period are wholly or mostly variable, such as a zero-hours worker, or someone who works only part of the year, with periods of at least a week when they neither work nor are paid, such as term-time staff. For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024.
Which weeks count for the average?
The last 52 weeks in which they were paid. Leave out weeks with no pay, and weeks of sick or family leave, and go further back to make up the number, but no more than 104 weeks. If they have worked fewer weeks, use the weeks there are.
What pay goes in?
Their total pay in those weeks: basic pay, regular overtime, and commission or other payments linked to the work they do. Whether a bonus goes in depends on what it is for.
When can holiday pay be rolled up?
Only for irregular-hours and part-year workers, in leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024. It is paid with each pay period’s wages and must be shown as a separate item on the payslip.
Does this apply in Northern Ireland?
No. These rules are for England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own working time law.
Holiday pay worked out from the hours they worked.
14 days free, no card needed.