If your hours change every week, working out what holiday you’re owed can feel impossible. But UK law is clear on this one. Even on a zero-hours or casual contract, you start building up paid holiday from your very first shift. Here’s how it’s calculated, what “rolled-up” holiday pay actually means, and what to do if the numbers on your payslip don’t add up.

Do casual and zero-hours workers get paid holiday?

Yes. Almost everyone classed as a “worker” is legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year, according to GOV.UK. That covers full-time and part-time staff, zero-hours and agency workers, and “bank” staff. For someone working a standard 5-day week, that works out to 28 days’ paid leave a year — the maximum the law requires, even if your contract has you working more days than that.

If your hours vary from week to week, you won’t get a flat 28 days automatically. Instead, your leave builds up in proportion to the hours you actually work — which is where most of the confusion starts.

How your holiday pay is worked out

For irregular-hours and part-year workers, holiday builds up (“accrues”) using a formula that applies to leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024. You earn 12.07% of the hours you work in each pay period. That figure is rounded up to the nearest hour once you’ve built up half an hour or more, per GOV.UK’s holiday entitlement guidance.

Say you work 30 hours in a week and you’re paid weekly. You’ve earned 4 hours of paid leave for that pay period (30 × 12.07% = 3.62, rounded up). Do this every pay period and your accrued leave adds up shift by shift, alongside your hours.

This only works if you actually know how many hours you’ve worked in each pay period — harder than it sounds when your rota changes weekly. wac logs every shift as you work it, so your hours, and the holiday accruing on top of them, are never a guess.

What is “rolled-up” holiday pay?

Some employers add holiday pay to every payslip as extra pay, rather than paying you separately when you actually take time off. This is called rolled-up holiday pay. Since April 2024, it’s been a legal option specifically for irregular-hours and part-year workers, according to Acas.

It must be calculated at a minimum of 12.07% of your total pay for that pay period. It’s paid at the same time as your normal wages, and shown as its own separate line on your payslip. Acas gives the example of someone earning £1,000 in a month, who should see an extra £120.70 in rolled-up holiday pay on top — itemised clearly, not folded invisibly into your hourly rate.

If you’re on rolled-up holiday pay, you won’t be paid again when you actually take leave. That’s because you’ve already received it throughout the year. This is allowed, but if your payslip doesn’t show it as a separate item, that’s worth raising. Our guide to common payslip errors covers what else to check.

Carrying leave over, and getting holiday pay when you’re off sick

If you’re entitled to the full 28 days, you can normally carry over up to 8 unused days into the next leave year, if your contract allows it. Couldn’t take your holiday because you were sick or on family leave? You may be able to carry over more — up to your full entitlement for irregular hours, per GOV.UK.

If you’re off sick, your employer must still pay you holiday pay for that period. It’s based on your average pay over the 52 weeks before the sick leave started, according to Acas.

What to do if you’re not getting paid holiday

Start by checking your payslips against the shifts you’ve actually worked. Holiday pay should appear either as rolled-up pay on every payslip, or as a separate payment when you book leave. If neither is happening, raise it with your employer first, in writing, so there’s a record. Our guide on what to do if you’ve been underpaid covers the next steps, including contacting Acas.

FAQs

Do zero-hours workers get bank holidays off?

Not automatically. Employers can count bank holidays as part of your statutory 5.6 weeks, rather than giving them on top. Check your contract, or ask your employer directly.

What if I’ve only just started my job?

You still start building up holiday from day one. If you started partway through a leave year, you’ll accrue a proportion of your leave. That’s based on how much of the year is left, or on the hours you work if you’re on irregular hours.

Can my employer refuse to let me take holiday?

They have to give you a reasonable opportunity to take your leave. They also need to tell you if you’ll lose it at the end of the year. If they don’t, you may be able to carry it over — see GOV.UK’s guidance on carrying over leave.

Whatever your rota looks like this week, the easiest way to know exactly what holiday you’re owed is to track the hours behind it. wac keeps a running log of every shift, so your entitlement is never something you have to reconstruct from memory. Download it free and see your accrued holiday for yourself.