Yes. Zero-hours workers in the UK are entitled to paid holiday, and always have been. Since the 2024 reforms, leave for irregular hours and part-year workers accrues at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period, and employers may lawfully pay it as rolled-up holiday pay added to every payslip.
Holiday pay is one of the most under-claimed entitlements in the UK labour market, largely because the calculation looks opaque from the outside. It is not. This post gives you the accrual rule, the two lawful payment methods, and the numbers worked through.
Key Takeaways
- Irregular hours and part-year workers accrue holiday at 12.07% of hours worked, for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024 — GOV.UK.
- 12.07% is not arbitrary: it is 5.6 weeks ÷ 46.4 working weeks.
- Rolled-up holiday pay is lawful again for these two worker types, but only if it is shown as a separate item on the payslip.
- The Employment Rights Act 2025 guaranteed-hours reforms are not yet in force — the government’s timetable puts them in 2027.
Who Counts as an Irregular Hours or Part-Year Worker?
The 12.07% rule does not apply to everyone. GOV.UK defines two specific categories:
- Irregular hours worker — someone whose contract means the number of paid hours in each pay period is “wholly or mostly variable”. A zero-hours hospitality worker is the government’s own example.
- Part-year worker — someone required to work only part of the year, with periods of at least a week in which they are not required to work and are not paid. Seasonal agricultural staff are the example given.
If you are on a zero-hours contract with genuinely variable hours, you almost certainly fall into the first category. If you are on a zero-hours contract but in practice work a steady 20 hours every week under a fixed pattern, the position is less clear-cut and you may fall under the standard 5.6-week rules instead.
Term-time-only staff on permanent contracts are the classic part-year case, and their treatment was settled by the Supreme Court in Harpur Trust v Brazel before the reforms changed the accrual method. We cover that history in our guide to variable hours holiday entitlement after Brazel.
Where the 12.07% Figure Comes From
The number is derived, not invented. Statutory holiday is 5.6 weeks. A year has 52 weeks, of which 5.6 are holiday, leaving 46.4 weeks actually worked.
5.6 ÷ 46.4 = 0.1207 = 12.07%
So every hour worked earns 0.1207 hours of paid holiday. A worker who does 1,000 hours in a year has earned 120.7 hours of paid leave — proportionally identical to the 5.6 weeks a full-timer receives.
Accrual is calculated at the end of each pay period, on the hours actually worked in that period. Hours are rounded to the nearest hour, with 30 minutes or more rounding up.
Worked Example: A Zero-Hours Bar Worker
Sam is on a zero-hours contract at a pub, paid monthly at £13.50 an hour. His leave year began on 1 May 2026.
| Month | Hours worked | Holiday accrued (× 0.1207) |
|---|---|---|
| May | 68 | 8.2 → 8 hours |
| June | 94 | 11.3 → 11 hours |
| July | 121 | 14.6 → 15 hours |
| Total | 283 | 34 hours |
After three months Sam has banked 34 hours of paid holiday. At his £13.50 rate, that is £459 of holiday pay he is entitled to — either taken as time off and paid then, or rolled up into his wages (see below).
The mistake to avoid is treating holiday in days. Sam’s shifts run from 4 to 11 hours. A “day” of holiday means nothing for him; hours are the only unit that produces a fair result.
Rolled-Up Holiday Pay: Legal Again, With Conditions
For years, rolled-up holiday pay — adding a holiday uplift to every payslip rather than paying when leave is taken — was unlawful in the UK following European case law. That changed for leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024.
Employers may now use rolled-up holiday pay for irregular hours and part-year workers only. The conditions matter:
- The uplift is 12.07% of the pay for work done in that pay period.
- It must be paid at the same time as the pay for the work.
- It must be itemised separately on the payslip — not silently absorbed into the hourly rate.
That third condition is the one to check. An employer who says “your rate already includes holiday pay” without a separate payslip line is not compliant. If your payslip does not show a distinct holiday pay figure, ask for one.
Which Method Is Better for You?
| Rolled-up | Paid when taken | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash flow | Money arrives every payslip | Lump sum when you book leave |
| Risk | Easy to spend it and then take unpaid time off | Money is there when you need the break |
| Visibility | Needs a payslip line to be verifiable | Balance is visible as hours owed |
Rolled-up pay is administratively simpler, but it removes the financial cushion that makes taking a holiday possible. If you are paid rolled-up, treat the holiday line on your payslip as ring-fenced money, not extra wages.
Bank Holidays, Sick Leave and Maternity Leave
Three follow-on points that catch people out:
- Bank holidays. A zero-hours worker who is not rostered on a bank holiday is not automatically paid for it. Bank holidays are ordinary days unless the contract says otherwise. See our employer guide to UK bank holidays.
- Sick leave and family leave. Where an irregular hours or part-year worker is on sick leave or statutory maternity or family-related leave, accrual does not simply stop — it is based on an average of hours worked over a relevant 52-week reference period, so a period of sickness does not wipe out entitlement.
- Leaving the job. Any accrued but untaken holiday must be paid out on termination. If you were paid rolled-up throughout, that pay has already been made, which is exactly why the payslip itemisation matters.
What Changes in 2027 — and What Has Not Changed Yet
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a right for zero-hours and low-hours workers to be offered guaranteed hours reflecting the hours they actually work, plus a right to payment when a shift is cancelled, moved or cut short at short notice.
These are not in force. The government’s published timetable places the guaranteed-hours right in 2027, with detail to be set out in regulations following consultation. Anyone telling you in mid-2026 that you already have a right to guaranteed hours is ahead of the law.
What has not changed: the 12.07% accrual, the rolled-up pay rules, and your right to actually take the leave. Holiday is time off, not just money. An employer must allow you to take it.
What This Means for You
- Read your payslip. Look for a separate holiday pay line. If your employer uses rolled-up pay and there is no line, raise it in writing.
- Keep your own record of hours worked. Multiply the annual total by 0.1207 and compare it against what you have been credited or paid.
- If you are not paid rolled-up, ask for your accrued hours balance. You are entitled to know it.
- Take the leave. Accruing 120 hours and never using them defeats the purpose of the entitlement, and it is bad for your health long before it is bad for your finances.
Employers running zero-hours or seasonal teams: the compliance risk here is almost entirely arithmetic and record-keeping, not intent. Leave Balance calculates accrual in hours from actual worked hours, keeps a per-worker running balance, and separates holiday from wages so the payslip line always reconciles. Flat $10/month, unlimited employees, 14-day free trial. Our UK holiday pay calculation guide covers the reference-period rules for workers who fall outside the 12.07% method.
This article is general information about UK holiday law, not legal advice. Take advice on your own contract and circumstances.
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