Holiday pay for temps and part-time workers

One of the most common myths in temporary and part-time work is that you do not get paid holiday. You almost always do. Holiday pay is a legal right for nearly every worker, including agency temps, part-timers and people on zero-hours contracts. The problem is that it is easy to lose track of, so plenty of people never claim what they are owed. Here is how it works.

Who is entitled to paid holiday

Almost every worker in the UK is entitled to paid annual leave, not just permanent full-time staff. That includes agency workers, part-time workers, casual and zero-hours workers, and those on fixed-term contracts. The genuinely self-employed are the main exception, as they are running their own business. If someone pays you as a worker or employee, you build up paid holiday.

How much you get

The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone working a standard five-day week that equals 28 days. Part-time workers get the same 5.6 weeks scaled to their hours, so for example someone working three days a week is entitled to 16.8 days. Your entitlement builds up from your very first day of work, growing steadily as you put in hours.

How holiday pay is worked out

You should be paid your normal wage while on holiday, so a day of leave is paid as if you had worked it. For workers with regular hours that is straightforward. For those with variable hours, such as many temps and zero-hours staff, holiday pay is based on the average of your previous weeks worked, currently averaged over the last 52 weeks in which you were paid. Importantly, regular overtime and commission should be included in that average, so your holiday pay reflects what you genuinely earn, not just your base rate.

Rolled-up holiday pay

For irregular-hours and part-year workers, employers are now allowed to pay "rolled-up" holiday pay, which means adding an amount, calculated as 12.07 percent of your pay, to each payslip instead of paying you when you take leave. If your work is done this way it must be shown clearly as a separate line on your payslip. Check your payslips: if you are on variable hours and see no holiday accruing and no rolled-up percentage, that is a red flag worth querying.

Common problems and how to handle them

• No holiday pay showing at all. You are entitled to it. Raise it in writing and point to your payslips.
• Holiday pay based only on your base rate when you regularly work overtime, which may understate what you are owed.
• Losing accrued holiday when an assignment ends. You should be paid for any leave you have built up but not taken.
• Being told temps get none. This is simply wrong.

How to make sure you get it

Keep your own record of the hours and weeks you work, read your payslips for how holiday is being handled, and check the Key Information Document your agency must give you, which sets out your holiday arrangements. If something does not add up, raise it with the agency or employer in writing first. If that gets nowhere, ACAS offers free, confidential advice. Holiday pay can add up to real money over a year, so it is well worth keeping an eye on and claiming what is yours.