Holiday pay is not just the days off

Updated September 2026

The statutory holiday floor is 5.6 weeks. What people actually argue about is whether the week's pay includes the extras they usually earn, and whether a rolled-up figure on an irregular-hours contract is being done lawfully.

The 5.6-week floor

Working Time Regulations give most workers 5.6 weeks of statutory paid annual leave. On a five-day week that is 28 days, which can include bank holidays if the contract says so. Part-time leave is pro-rated. A better contractual scheme still wins. This is England, Wales and Scotland; Northern Ireland is a different system.

The right sits with workers as well as employees. A label on a contract that says contractor does not decide it. If you do the work personally and you are not running a genuine business of your own, start from the working-time rules, not from the job title.

What goes in the week's pay

Holiday pay is meant to reflect normal remuneration, not a stripped basic rate, where extras are sufficiently regular. Regular overtime is the example tribunals keep seeing. Commission and some regular allowances can sit in the same bucket. A one-off bonus usually does not. I am not going to invent a formula for your rota. If the extras land most weeks, treat them as in play and check the current gov.uk guidance and Acas before you settle the argument in your head.

Irregular hours and rolled-up pay

Irregular-hours and part-year workers have a specific method for accruing leave, and rolled-up holiday pay is now a lawful option in those cases when it is done in the way the regulations require — typically as a clearly identified 12.07 per cent on top of pay for the hours worked, not buried inside a headline rate. If you cannot see the holiday line on the payslip, ask for it in writing. Zero-hours reforms on guaranteed hours and shift notice are a separate page.

What to do next

Open the last 12 weeks of payslips and the contract. If holiday was paid at basic only while overtime was normal, that is the dispute. Unpaid holiday pay is usually an unlawful deduction; the wages deadline is the clock that matters, and a grievance does not pause it. Confirm the current statutory position on gov.uk holiday entitlement before you rely on a percentage you saw on a forum.