Summer holiday pay: Handling staff time off

Published Thursday 3 September 2026

Table of contents

• Summer holiday pay and staff entitlement: The basics
• How holiday pay is calculated in the UK
• Holiday pay for part-time and irregular-hours staff
• Do bank holidays count as holiday?
• Managing staff annual leave over the summer
• Can you refuse a holiday request?
• Keeping summer payroll and leave on track
• Manage summer payroll and leave with Xero
• FAQs on summer holiday pay for staff

Key takeaways

• Almost all staff get 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days for someone on a five-day week.
• Holiday pay must reflect normal pay, including regular overtime and commission, worked out over a 52-week reference period.
• Summer clashes are easier to handle with a written policy and a fair system such as first come, first served.
• Planning cover early and encouraging staff to book leave keeps you off the back foot and clears a year-end backlog.

Summer holiday pay and staff entitlement: The basics

Almost all workers get 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, and that's capped at 28 days for someone on a five-day week. This statutory holiday entitlement is the legal minimum, so you can offer more if you want to.

Most people who work for you are covered, whether they're full-time, part-time, or on flexible hours. It's worth knowing who counts before you sort out summer requests. Entitlement usually covers:

• Full-time and part-time employees on your payroll
• Agency and casual workers
• Zero-hours staff, based on the hours they work
• Staff still building up leave while off sick or on family leave

If you want to double-check the numbers, GOV.UK explains how statutory holiday entitlement works for different working patterns.

How holiday pay is calculated in the UK

Holiday pay should match a worker's normal pay, so a week off is paid at the rate of a normal week's work. For anyone with variable earnings, you work this out using a 52-week reference period.

To find a week's holiday pay, add up what someone earned over the last 52 weeks they were paid, then divide by 52. Skip any week they weren't paid and look back further – up to 104 weeks – until you have 52 paid weeks. Normal pay usually includes:

• regular overtime you'd normally expect them to work
• commission linked to the work they do
• regular allowances, such as a shift or travel allowance
• other regular payments that make up their usual earnings

Say someone earns £400 basic most weeks, plus overtime that pushes their average to £460 a week across the reference period. Their holiday pay is £460 a week, not the £400 basic. For the full detail, see the GOV.UK guide to the rules on holiday pay.

Holiday pay for part-time and irregular-hours staff

Part-time staff get the same 5.6 weeks, worked out pro-rata to the days they work. Irregular-hours and part-year staff build up holiday based on the hours they actually put in.

For part-timers, multiply their weekly working days by 5.6. So someone working three days a week gets 16.8 days' leave a year (3 × 5.6). You can check how much leave someone builds up using Acas guidance if a pattern is unusual.

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period. You have two ways to handle their pay:

• Use the 52-week reference period, the same as other variable-pay staff.
• Use rolled-up holiday pay, adding at least 12.07% of their pay each period and showing it as a separate line on the payslip.

Rolled-up holiday pay can save admin for casual summer staff. If you're taking on seasonal help, it's worth reading how online payroll handles variable pay, and Acas sets out the detail for irregular-hours and part-year workers.

Do bank holidays count as holiday?

Bank holidays aren't a separate legal entitlement. You can count them as part of the 5.6 weeks or give them on top, and the employment contract decides which.

This matters in summer because of the August bank holiday. Check what each contract says: if bank holidays come out of the 5.6 weeks, taking that Monday off reduces the leave someone has left for the rest of the year. Acas explains how bank holidays fit into holiday entitlement, and if you run payroll software it helps to set up bank holidays correctly so leave balances stay accurate.

Managing staff annual leave over the summer

Managing staff annual leave over summer comes down to clear rules set early, so requests don't pile up and clash. A little planning keeps the season fair and your team covered.

1. Set a clear written annual leave policy and put it in the staff handbook.
2. Share the policy before summer, so everyone knows how to book and what to expect.
3. Encourage early requests and set a booking deadline for peak weeks.
4. Choose a fair way to prioritise clashes, such as first come, first served or a rota that rotates who gets priority each year.
5. Plan cover for busy periods before you approve overlapping requests.
6. Encourage staff to actually take their leave, so you avoid a rush of requests at year-end.

Can you refuse a holiday request?

You can refuse a specific request, but you can't refuse the entitlement itself. Business needs, staff shortages or short notice are all fair reasons to say no to a particular date.

Give proper notice when you turn a request down: the statutory notice to refuse leave is at least as long as the leave requested, so refusing 10 days off needs at least 10 days' notice. If you instead need staff to take leave at a set time, GOV.UK sets out the notice rules for booking and requiring time off, and that notice must be at least twice the length of the leave. To stay on the right side of the rules, keep decisions fair:

• Apply your policy the same way for everyone.
• Give reasons and confirm the decision in writing.
• Apply the rules on workplace discrimination, and take care not to automatically favour staff with children over those without.

Keeping summer payroll and leave on track

Staying on track through summer rests on accurate records and pay that's worked out correctly. Good record-keeping now saves a scramble when payslips are due.

Keep a clear log of who's off and when, so you can see cover gaps early and calculate holiday pay from real figures. Payroll software that works out holiday pay for you can handle the 52-week average and rolled-up pay automatically, which takes the guesswork out of variable earnings. Plan ahead, and the busy months feel a lot calmer.

Manage summer payroll and leave with Xero

Xero brings payroll, leave and pay records together, so you can approve holiday, track who's off and run accurate pay without juggling spreadsheets. Holiday pay calculations, including the 52-week average and rolled-up pay for irregular hours, are handled for you, which can help free up time in your busiest season.

Ready to take the stress out of summer staff admin? Get one month free and see how much simpler payroll and leave can be.

FAQs on summer holiday pay for staff

These quick answers cover the questions small employers ask most about summer holiday pay and time off.

How much holiday are staff entitled to in the UK?

Almost all workers get 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days for a five-day week. You can offer more than the legal minimum, but not less.

How do you calculate holiday pay for part-time staff?

Multiply their usual weekly working days by 5.6, so three days a week gives 16.8 days a year. Each day's pay reflects what they normally earn for that day.

Do you have to pay staff for bank holidays in summer?

Bank holidays aren't a separate entitlement, so it depends on the contract. If they're included in the 5.6 weeks, the August bank holiday counts as one of those days rather than an extra.

Can you say no to a summer holiday request?

Yes, you can refuse a specific request for reasons such as staff shortages or short notice, though you can't remove the entitlement. Give notice at least as long as the leave requested, and apply the same rules to everyone.

How much notice should staff give for holiday?

The statutory default is at least double the length of the leave, so one day off needs two days' notice. Your own policy can set a longer notice period for peak summer weeks.

How does holiday pay work for zero-hours staff?

Zero-hours workers build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work each pay period. You can pay it through the 52-week average or as rolled-up holiday pay shown as a separate line on their payslip.