How is holiday worked out for irregular hours?

Q: How is holiday worked out for irregular hours?

12.07% of the hours you work. If your hours vary from pay period to pay period (zero-hours, casual, bank staff) or you have weeks off unpaid each year, you build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period, rounded to the nearest hour. This applies to leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024 in England, Scotland and Wales.

How much leave you get · Checked against gov.uk, Acas and nidirect on 26 October 2026. Updated 26 October 2026.

12.07% of the hours you work

If your hours vary from pay period to pay period (zero-hours, casual, bank staff) or you have weeks off unpaid each year, you build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period, rounded to the nearest hour. This applies to leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024 in England, Scotland and Wales.

Worked examples

Holiday built up at 12.07%
Hours worked in the pay period	12.07%	Holiday you build up
30	3.62	4 hours
70	8.45	8 hours
100	12.07	12 hours
160	19.31	19 hours

Part hours of 30 minutes or more round up; under 30 minutes round down. Holiday is added on the last day of each pay period, and you can take it from the next one.

Why 12.07%?

It's 5.6 weeks of holiday spread over the 46.4 weeks you'd be working: 5.6 ÷ 46.4 = 0.1207. Over a full year it adds up to the same 5.6 weeks, capped at 28 days, as everyone else.

Are you an irregular hours or part-year worker?

Irregular hours: your contract says your paid hours in each pay period are wholly or mostly variable. Zero-hours, casual and bank contracts usually count. A fixed rota that repeats doesn't.
Part-year: your contract runs all year, but there are weeks you aren't required to work and aren't paid for, such as some term-time or seasonal contracts.
Regular hours, full or part-time? You get 5.6 weeks pro rata instead: part-time holiday.

Rolled-up holiday pay

For irregular hours and part-year workers only, an employer can add holiday pay to every pay packet instead of paying you when you take the time off. It must be at least 12.07% of your pay for the period, paid at the same time, and shown as a separate line on your payslip. Earn £1,000 in a month and you'd get at least £120.70 on top. You then get no pay for the weeks you take off, so put it aside.

Other things to know

Holiday pay for these workers is at your normal rate, averaged over the last 52 weeks you were paid. How holiday pay is calculated.
If you can't take it because you're off sick, you can carry over up to 28 days. Carrying over leave.
Northern Ireland has its own rules; nidirect says casual and irregular workers are entitled to paid time off for every hour they work.

Sources

Checked on 26 October 2026. This is general information about the legal minimum in the UK, not legal advice: your contract can give you more, and can set its own rules for notice and carrying over. For help with your own situation, call the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 (England, Scotland and Wales) or the Labour Relations Agency on 03300 555 300 (Northern Ireland).