For employees who work the same hours on the same days each week, the annual holidays entitlement is simple to work out. Every 12 months (on their anniversary for annual holidays entitlement), the employee gets four of their working weeks of paid annual holidays. For example, the four-week entitlement for an employee who works 3 x 8 hour days per week will be equivalent to 12 paid days (3x4=12), assuming their work pattern doesn’t change.
Employees can have a predictable work pattern in a number of other different ways, for example:
- The total number of hours and days the employee works each week are the same but the number of hours each day or the days worked each week is different. In this situation, the employer and employee may agree to work out the holiday entitlement in either days or hours. (If the number of hours the employee works each day are not the same, this choice can lead to quite different consequences and the employer and employee should discuss the effects of these 2 different options with the employee as they could be disadvantaged in some situations).
- The total number of days the employee works each week are the same but the total number of hours changes. The employer and employee could agree to use days as an appropriate way to work out the employee’s four weeks annual holidays entitlement in this situation.
- The total number of hours the employee works each week is the same but the total number of days they work changes. The employer and employee could agree to use hours as an appropriate way to work out the employee’s four weeks annual holidays entitlement in this situation.
- The employee has a work pattern which is consistent but not based on a seven-day cycle, for example they work four days on, four days off. In this instance the employer should discuss the options with the employee in good faith. For example, the employer and employee could agree to define the week by using the longest week in the pattern, or by using an average week based on the pattern or by just referring to the week at the time the annual holiday is taken.
All these choices will have different consequences and should be discussed in good faith between the parties and the option chosen should be used consistently for that employee unless their situation changes. If the employee’s work pattern changes their situation must be reviewed and their annual holidays entitlement must be worked out based on the new work pattern.
For more information see our Holidays Act Guidance 2003 [PDF, 1.1 MB]
