Holiday for irregular hours and part-year workers
By the KiteClock team · Reviewed 24 October 2026 · How we write guides
For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they actually work in each pay period, rounded to the nearest hour. Someone who works 30 hours in a week earns 4 hours of holiday.
Who it applies to
- Irregular-hours workers: people whose paid hours in each pay period are wholly or mostly variable under their contract. Zero-hours and casual contracts can count. A fixed rotating shift pattern doesn't.
- Part-year workers: people whose contract means they only work part of the year, with periods of at least a week when they don't work and aren't paid. They can have fixed hours.
Where 12.07% comes from
Statutory holiday is 5.6 weeks. Out of 52 weeks, that leaves 46.4 working weeks, and 5.6 ÷ 46.4 is 12.07%. So for every hour worked, a worker builds up 0.1207 of an hour's holiday. Workers whose contract gives more holiday than the legal minimum need a higher percentage.
Worked examples (from GOV.UK)
| Hours worked in the pay period | × 12.07% | Holiday built up |
|---|---|---|
| 30 (a weekly pay period) | 3.621 | 4 hours |
| 68 (Jill, in June) | 8.2076 | 8 hours |
GOV.UK says the entitlement is rounded up to the nearest hour if it's 0.5 of an hour or more, so 3.621 becomes 4 and 8.2076 becomes 8. The holiday can be taken from the next pay period.
Rolled-up holiday pay
For these workers only, an employer can choose to pay holiday as they go instead: 12.07% of the pay for each pay period, added to their pay. It must be shown as a separate item on each payslip, and the worker should be told beforehand.
Sickness and family leave
Holiday keeps building up while someone is off sick or on maternity, paternity or adoption leave. For these workers, GOV.UK's guidance works it out from the hours they worked before the leave. Up to 28 days built up during sickness can be carried forward, to be taken within 18 months.
How KiteClock handles it
Put irregular-hours staff on KiteClock's Irregular hours policy and their holiday builds up at 12.07% of their paid hours as each timesheet is approved, rounded to the hour. During sick and family leave it keeps building up from their average hours over the 52 weeks before.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024
- GOV.UK: Calculate leave entitlement
- GOV.UK: Holiday entitlement
This guide explains the rules; it isn't legal advice. For a decision about a particular person, check with Acas or a qualified adviser.