A holiday pay calculator has two jobs, and a small employer usually needs only one of them. For salaried staff on fixed hours, holiday pay is a week's normal pay and nothing needs calculating: the person is paid as if they had worked. For hourly, variable and irregular-hours staff, holiday pay is an average, and the average is where the mistakes live. This page sets out the calculation for each kind of worker, the 52-week reference period, and rolled up holiday pay, which is lawful again for irregular-hours and part-year workers under the reforms that apply to leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024.
Fixed hours, fixed pay: no calculation
A worker on the same hours and the same pay every week is paid their normal pay for a week of holiday. Overtime that is regularly worked, commission and similar payments count towards normal pay, which is the one place a salaried calculation can go wrong; the safest rule is that a week of leave should not leave the person worse off than a week at work, and the payslip for a holiday week should look like the payslip for a worked one.
Variable hours or pay: the 52-week average
A worker whose hours or pay vary is paid holiday at the average of the previous 52 weeks in which they were paid, skipping weeks with no pay and going back further to find 52 paid weeks, up to a limit of 104 weeks. Weekly pay divided by weekly hours over that period gives the average hourly rate, and holiday pay is that rate times the hours of holiday taken. The record therefore has to keep hours and pay by week, which is the payroll's job; the leave record's job is the hours of holiday taken.
Irregular hours: accrual at 12.07 per cent, and rolled up holiday pay
For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, an irregular-hours or part-year worker accrues holiday at 12.07 per cent of the hours actually worked in each pay period. Their employer may either pay holiday at the 52-week average when it is taken, or pay rolled up holiday pay: an uplift of 12.07 per cent on every payslip in place of paying for holiday when it is taken, shown as a separate line. Rolled up pay does not remove the right to take the time off; the entitlement still accrues and still has to be recorded.
What the leave record has to hold for the calculation
Holiday pay comes from payroll's hours and pay history; what the leave record supplies is the accrued entitlement and the hours or days of holiday taken in each period. Keep those against the employee and the payroll figure follows. The free holiday leave calculator on this site works the accrual for regular patterns; the zero hours page walks the hours-based version, and the paid wall chart holds the hours taken per person per period.
Questions people ask about holiday pay calculator
How is holiday pay calculated in the UK?
Fixed-hours workers get their normal pay. Workers whose hours or pay vary get the average of the previous 52 paid weeks. Irregular-hours and part-year workers accrue at 12.07 per cent of hours worked and may be paid rolled up holiday pay.
What is rolled up holiday pay?
An uplift of 12.07 per cent on each payslip, shown separately, in place of paying for holiday when it is taken. It is permitted for irregular-hours and part-year workers for leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, and the worker keeps the right to take the time off.
Does overtime count towards holiday pay?
Regular overtime, commission and similar payments that form part of normal pay should be reflected in holiday pay. Occasional, genuinely voluntary overtime is the grey area, and Acas's guidance is cited below.
Do I need a holiday pay calculator for salaried staff?
No. Their pay is unchanged by a week of leave. The calculation is needed for hourly, variable and irregular-hours staff.