12.07% Holiday Pay Calculator

Why is 12.07% used for holiday pay?

Almost all UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year. A year has 52 weeks, so someone who takes all their holiday works 46.4 weeks (52 − 5.6). Divide the holiday by the working weeks (5.6 ÷ 46.4) and you get 12.07%. Accruing 12.07% of every hour worked therefore delivers exactly the 5.6-week entitlement, scaled to however much someone actually works. That’s why it’s the standard method for zero-hours and casual staff whose hours change week to week.

Can you still use 12.07%? The 2024 rule change

Yes, but the rules changed, and the detail matters:

• Before 2022, 12.07% was widespread informal practice for casual staff.
• July 2022: the Supreme Court ruled in Harpur Trust v Brazel that part-year workers on permanent contracts (like term-time staff) were entitled to a full, un-pro-rated 5.6 weeks, making the 12.07% method unlawful for them.
• 1 April 2024: new regulations restored the 12.07% method, but only for two specific groups, and only for leave years starting on or after that date.

The two groups, as defined in the Working Time Regulations, are:

• Irregular hours workers: your paid hours in each pay period are, under your contract, wholly or mostly variable. Zero-hours, casual and bank contracts qualify. A fixed rotating pattern does not.
• Part-year workers: your contract only requires you to work part of the year, with at least a week at a time that is both unworked and unpaid (seasonal staff, most term-time-only staff).

How rolled-up holiday pay works

For these workers, employers can also choose rolled-up holiday pay: instead of paying you when you take leave, they add an uplift of at least 12.07% of your total pay to every payslip. To be lawful it must be:

• calculated on your total pay for the period, including overtime and commission;
• paid at the same time as your wages (not saved up for year-end);
• itemised separately on your payslip; and
• paid on top of wages that already meet the National Minimum Wage.

You still take your leave. It’s just unpaid at the time, because you were paid for it in advance. If your employer doesn’t use rolled-up pay, holiday is paid when you take it, at your average pay over the previous 52 paid weeks.

The statutory rounding and the 28-day cap

Two details most calculators miss, both written into the regulations:

• Rounding: each pay period’s accrual is rounded to whole hours: a fraction under 30 minutes is dropped, 30 minutes or more rounds up. 68 hours worked × 12.07% = 8.2076 → 8 hours.
• Cap: you can’t accrue more than 28 days’ leave in a leave year, however many hours you work.

For employers: you now have to be able to show this working

Since 6 April 2026, employers must keep records demonstrating how holiday entitlement and pay were calculated, retained for six years, under the Employment Rights Act 2025, enforced by the Fair Work Agency. If your team’s leave lives in a spreadsheet, that’s a good reason to move it somewhere auditable.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Based on: gov.uk: holiday pay and entitlement reforms; Working Time Regulations 1998, reg 15B (accrual) and reg 16A (rolled-up pay); ACAS guidance on irregular hours and part-year workers. Statutory figures checked August 2026. This tool is guidance, not legal advice.