Answers · UK 2025/26

How is holiday pay calculated for zero-hours and casual workers?

Zero-hours and other irregular-hours workers accrue statutory holiday at 12.07% of hours worked (reflecting 5.6 weeks of leave as a proportion of the working year), and, since April 2024, employers can either pay this as rolled-up holiday pay with every payslip or calculate a worker's average pay over the previous 52 paid weeks when they actually take leave.

Last updated: 4 July 2026Last reviewed: 4 July 2026How we verify

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Calculating holiday pay for zero-hours contract workers, casual workers, and others with genuinely irregular hours has historically been a source of confusion and underpayment, precisely because there is no single fixed weekly wage to simply continue paying during a week of leave, unlike a worker on regular fixed hours. Since reforms taking effect for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, the Working Time Regulations set out a clear, standardised approach for irregular hours workers and part-year workers: holiday entitlement accrues at a rate of 12.07% of the hours actually worked in each pay period, a figure derived from the statutory 5.6 weeks of annual leave expressed as a percentage of the remaining 46.4 working weeks in a full year. For example, a zero-hours worker who works 20 hours in a given week accrues 20 x 12.07% = 2.41 hours of statutory holiday entitlement from that week's work, gradually building up their leave balance in proportion to hours actually worked, rather than accruing a fixed number of days regardless of how much they worked. When it comes to actually paying for that accrued leave, employers of eligible irregular hours and part-year workers now have two lawful options: pay rolled-up holiday pay at 12.07% alongside every payslip as hours are worked (itemised separately), or calculate the worker's holiday pay when leave is taken using their average pay over the previous 52 paid weeks (excluding any weeks with no pay, looking back further than 52 weeks if necessary to find 52 weeks with pay, up to a maximum look-back of 104 weeks) — this 52-week reference period approach replaced the previous 12-week averaging method used before 2020. Workers should check their payslips and holiday records carefully, since both incorrect accrual calculations and confusion between the older 12-week averaging method and the current 52-week method remain common sources of holiday pay underpayment, particularly for workers moving between employers who have not updated their payroll systems to reflect the current rules. Use the Holiday Entitlement calculator to check your accrued entitlement based on hours actually worked.