An estimated 1.7 million people in the UK were working casually back in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) — and it’s fair to assume that number has grown since, given how much working patterns have shifted since the pandemic. If you’re one of these casual workers, working out what holiday pay you’re owed can be tricky. A lot of guidance out there only covers full-time employment. So, let’s take a proper look at holiday pay for casual workers in 2026.
What is casual working?
A casual worker is usually someone with a flexible or irregular work arrangement — no guaranteed hours, no fixed schedule. They’re typically brought in for short-term or fluctuating business needs, and (for those not in the know) their employment rights and benefits are more limited than a standard employee’s.
Casual work can include:
- Zero-hours contracts: no minimum guaranteed hours, work offered as and when needed.
- Seasonal or temporary jobs: fixed-term roles tied to a specific period or peak in demand.
- Agency work: employed by an agency but placed with different businesses.
- Freelance or gig work: usually self-employed, working project to project.
Are casual workers entitled to holiday pay?
Yes—casual workers in the UK are entitled to holiday pay, just like any other employee, as long as they’re employed by a company rather than genuinely self-employed. How much they get depends on their contract and the hours they actually work. Freelancers who are self-employed don’t get statutory holiday pay.
Casual workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, pro-rated to their hours. Employers need to keep accurate records and make sure the right amount gets paid—the rules are clear, but it’s an area where mistakes are common, so it’s worth double-checking your calculations.
How to calculate holiday entitlement for casual workers
How you calculate this depend on the type of contract your people have.
Temporary contracts
To calculate a temporary worker’s holiday entitlement, you’ll need:
- Their employment start date.
- Their employment end date.
- How many hours they work.
Use the start and end dates of their contract to work out how long it ran for, not how many days they actually worked. If they haven’t worked a full holiday year, start the calculation from when they began. From there, work out their allowance based on whether they’re full-time or part-time across the months they were with you.
For example: someone who starts on 1 January and finishes on 1 March, working full-time hours, would be entitled to one-third of the annual holiday allowance.
Their full-time allowance is 28 days as a statutory minimum (this includes bank holidays). If they’re part-time, pro-rata this based on their hours.
Zero-hours contract
This is the area that’s changed the most, so it’s worth being precise here.
The pre-2024 method (52-week average): for leave years that started before 1 April 2024, you’d look at the worker’s hours over their last 52 working weeks (going back up to 104 weeks if needed to find enough working weeks), then apply this formula:
| Step | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Average weekly hours | Hours worked over 52 weeks ÷ 52 |
| Holiday entitlement | 5.6 × average weekly hours |
For example: 208 hours worked over 52 weeks ÷ 52 = 4 hours average. 5.6 × 4 = 22.4 hours of entitlement, inclusive of bank holidays.
The current method (from leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024): the government introduced a simpler accrual method specifically for irregular-hours and part-year workers, following reforms to the Working Time Regulations. Under this system:
- Holiday accrues at 12.07% of hours actually worked in each pay period (this figure comes from 5.6 weeks divided by the remaining 46.4 working weeks in a year).
- Employers can also use rolled-up holiday pay for these workers; this adds the 12.07% straight into each pay packet, rather than paying it separately when leave is taken.
- Rolled-up pay must be itemised clearly on the payslip, and workers must be told it’s included. It can’t be used for anyone on fixed or regular hours. Only genuinely irregular-hours and part-year workers qualify.
Here’s how that looks in practice: a worker on irregular hours works 60 hours in a month at £15.00 an hour, plus a £100 bonus.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Basic pay (60 hrs × £15.00) | £900.00 |
| Bonus | £100.00 |
| Total relevant pay | £1,000.00 |
| Rolled-up holiday pay (12.07%) | £120.70 |
| Total gross pay | £1,120.70 |
This works well for genuinely variable schedules, but be aware that misclassifying a worker with a fixed (even if irregular-looking) shift pattern as an “irregular-hours worker” is one of the most common compliance slip-ups. If someone’s hours follow a set rota, even a rotating one, they likely don’t qualify for the 12.07% method.
If a worker settles into a regular pattern after starting out on irregular hours, you’ll need to switch them onto the standard holiday pay approach to stay compliant.
Paying out holiday pay
If a casual worker doesn’t use their holiday entitlement during their contract, you’ll need to pay it out to them when the contract ends.
A few other things worth keeping in mind:
- Sickness absence: up to 4 weeks of leave can be carried over if a worker couldn’t take their holiday due to illness.
- Maternity leave: holiday continues to accrue in full, and any leave that can’t be taken within the holiday year must be allowed to carry over.
A lot of organisations don’t realise how much this area has changed since 2024—so if your current process still relies purely on the old 52-week averaging method for irregular-hours workers, it’s worth reviewing whether the new accrual and rolled-up pay options might be simpler for your business.
Getting holiday pay for casual workers right by hand, across a workforce with different contract types, takes real care. If you’d like to see how Cintra’s payroll software handles these calculations automatically—including starters, leavers, and the 12.07% method—you’re warmly invited to get in touch or book a demo with a member of our team.
HR & Employment Law Guide
Grab your accessible summary of guidance and insights about where HR practices meet employment law.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Are casual workers entitled to holiday pay in the UK?
A. Yes. Casual workers are entitled to holiday pay if they're employed by a company, even without fixed hours or a guaranteed schedule. The only exception is genuinely self-employed freelancers, who don't get statutory holiday pay.
Q. How much holiday pay are casual workers entitled to?
A. Casual workers get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, pro-rated to the hours they actually work. For someone on a zero-hours contract, this is usually worked out using the 12.07% accrual method based on hours worked in each pay period.
Q. How do you calculate holiday pay for a zero-hours contract?
A. Multiply hours worked in a pay period by 12.07% (5.6 weeks ÷ 46.4 working weeks). For example, someone working 60 hours in a month accrues 7.24 hours of holiday pay for that period.
Q. What is rolled-up holiday pay, and is it legal?
A. Rolled-up holiday pay adds the 12.07% holiday amount straight into each pay packet, instead of paying it separately when leave is taken. It's been legal since April 2024, but only for irregular-hours and part-year workers. It must be shown separately on the payslip.
Q. Do casual workers get bank holiday pay?
A. Yes. The statutory 5.6 weeks of holiday entitlement includes bank holidays—there's no separate, additional allowance on top. For a full-time employee this works out to 28 days a year; casual workers get this pro-rated to their hours.
Q. What happens to unused holiday pay when a casual contract ends?
A. Any holiday entitlement a casual worker hasn't used by the end of their contract must be paid out to them at that point, rather than lost.
Q. Can an employer use the old 52-week averaging method for holiday pay in 2026?
A. Only for leave years that started before 1 April 2024. For any leave year starting on or after that date, irregular-hours and part-year workers move to the 12.07% accrual method instead.
