Leisure Sector Update: Holiday accrual and pay for irregular and part year workers - what you need to know.

From 1 April 2024, new categories of ‘irregular hours’ and ‘part year’ workers have been created.  They will be governed by a bespoke holiday accrual regime which sees holiday accrue in hours (rather than weeks) on the last day of a pay period, at a rate of 12.07% of the actual hours worked in that pay period.

Fractions of hours must be rounded down to a full hour if the fraction is less than 30 minutes, and rounded up to a full hour if the fraction is more than 30 minutes.

Rolled-up holiday pay will also be lawful for workers subject to this new regime.

These workers can either be paid their holiday pay in installments following periods of leave, or the employer can elect to pay rolled-up holiday pay. Workers may request their preferred method, but it is for the employer to decide how they wish to implement the new regime. If the employer elects to pay rolled up holiday pay, workers must still be allowed to take holiday but will not be paid at the time they take it.

The new regime will not yet apply to leave years that began before 1 April 2024. However, many of you will already implement rolled up holiday pay for your irregular and part year workers. Care should be taken to be transparent about the calculation, and holiday pay should be clearly itemised on the payslip.