UK Holiday Pay Calculator
Work out the holiday pay due to any UK worker — salary, hourly, variable, or rolled-up — under the rules in force from April 2024.
Holiday pay due
£615.40
Daily rate: £123.08 · Weekly rate: £615.38
Annual salary £32000 ÷ 260 paid days = £123.08 per day. 5 days of holiday × £123.08 = £615.4.
How holiday pay is calculated
Fixed salary. A salaried worker simply continues to be paid their normal monthly amount while on holiday. The day rate is conventionally the annual salary divided by 260 paid days (52 weeks × 5 days), though this varies if the contract names a different paid-day count.
Fixed hourly. Holiday pay equals the hours of holiday taken multiplied by the contractual hourly rate. Nothing complicated — this is the straightforward case.
Variable pay. When pay varies week to week (because of fluctuating hours, overtime, commission, or shift premiums), holiday pay is based on the average weekly pay over a 52-week reference period of paid weeks. Weeks with no pay are skipped, and the lookback can extend up to 104 weeks to find the 52 paid weeks. The average then sets the weekly holiday rate.
Rolled-up holiday pay. Lawful for irregular-hours and part-year workers only (post-April 2024). The 12.07% uplift is added to each payslip and itemised separately. The worker still takes time off, but the pay has already been received in instalments.
What pay must be included
Holiday pay is not just basic pay. The Working Time Regulations and the case law that interprets them require that holiday pay reflect “normal remuneration” — what the worker would have earned if they were at work.
- Basic pay.
- Regular overtime — both compulsory and voluntary.
- Commission tied to performance.
- Performance bonuses (where regular and predictable).
- Travel time payments.
- On-call and standby payments.
Excluded: one-off discretionary bonuses, expense reimbursements, and tips and gratuities (unless contractually due).
Frequently asked questions
What's the 52-week reference period?+
When a worker has variable pay (overtime, commission, variable hours), holiday pay is based on the average pay over the previous 52 weeks of paid work. Weeks with no work or no pay are skipped, looking back up to 104 weeks to find 52 paid weeks.
What pay must be included in holiday pay?+
Basic pay, regular overtime (both compulsory and voluntary), commission tied to performance, regular bonuses, travel time payments, and on-call/standby payments. Discretionary one-off bonuses and expense reimbursements are excluded.
Is it lawful to pay holiday pay at basic rate when overtime is regular?+
Not for the four weeks of leave guaranteed by EU-derived law (now retained in UK law). Workers must receive their normal remuneration including regular overtime and commission for at least the four-week portion of the 5.6 weeks. Most employers apply the same rule to the full 5.6 weeks for simplicity.