How is holiday pay calculated for zero-hours contract workers?

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Zero-hours contract and other irregular-hours workers are entitled to the same statutory 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year as anyone else, but because their hours vary week to week, calculating exactly how much holiday pay they've earned needs a different method from someone on a fixed weekly salary. **The 12.07% method** The commonly used shortcut comes from dividing 5.6 weeks of statutory leave by the 46.4 weeks that remain in a year once those 5.6 weeks are excluded (52 − 5.6 = 46.4). This gives 12.07%, meaning a worker accrues roughly 12.07% of the hours they actually work as paid holiday entitlement -- for example, someone who works 20 hours in a week accrues about 2.4 hours of paid holiday. **Rolled-up holiday pay (from April 2024)** Following changes to the Working Time Regulations effective for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, employers of irregular-hours workers and part-year workers may choose to pay "rolled-up holiday pay" -- adding 12.07% on top of the worker's normal pay for hours worked, clearly itemised as a separate holiday pay element on the payslip, rather than paying full pay only when the worker actually takes leave. This simplifies administration for employers with fluctuating rotas, though the worker must still actually be allowed and encouraged to take time off, since the right to rest is a health and safety matter, not purely a financial one. **How average pay is calculated when leave is taken (non-rolled-up method)** Where rolled-up pay isn't used, holiday pay for irregular-hours workers is based on average pay over the previous 52 weeks in which the worker actually earned pay (skipping any weeks with no pay and looking back further, up to 104 weeks, if needed to find 52 paid weeks) -- this "52-week reference period" approach smooths out the effect of naturally busy and quiet weeks. **Who counts as "irregular hours" or "part-year"** The rolled-up pay option specifically applies to workers whose hours are wholly or mostly variable, or who only work part of the year (such as term-time-only staff) -- workers with genuinely fixed hours and pay, even if technically on a zero-hours contract, are generally still expected to use the standard 52-week average method rather than rolled-up pay. **Practical tip** Zero-hours workers should check their payslips carefully for a clearly itemised holiday pay element if rolled-up pay is used, and keep a personal log of hours worked, since this is the most reliable way to sense-check that the 12.07% (or average-pay) calculation being applied by the employer looks right.

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