Understanding how your holiday pay and entitlement works as a temporary employee can be confusing! Your agency should have a process in place to easily be able to provide you information on how much you have accrued to date and we have pulled this guide together to provide some insights:
In line with Working Time Regulations (1998), all PAYE temporary agency workers are entitled to paid annual leave. Here’s a basic guide to understand how it works:
- 28 days annual leave (or 5.6 weeks as sometimes referred to) per year to include the 8 statutory bank holidays
- Holiday accrual is calculated as 12.07% of your hourly rate, for each hour that you work
- The 12.07% relates to the statutory annual leave you’re entitled to. If you divided 5.6 weeks’ holiday by 46.4 weeks (both combined equalling the 52 weeks in a year) you get 12.07%
- As per most permanent employment contracts: Annual accrued whilst working on a temporary basis is to be used within the holiday year and cannot be carried over to the following holiday year
- Your holiday year will be specified when you receive a booking confirmation from our team
- You will only be able to claim holiday pay if you have accrued enough within your holiday year to cover the time off you have requested. For example if you have requested 5 days annual leave but have only, to date, accrued 3 days annual leave, you will be paid for 3 days and will take the other 2 days unpaid
- If you’re temporary assignment ends and you still have some holiday entitlement accrued, this will be paid out to you when we issue your P45 at the end of your employment with us
FAQs
How do I take holiday pay?
As with any employment, your annual leave needs to be approved by your line manager, at which point you must also inform us as your employer to ensure we are able to process the correct pay for you.
What happens to my timesheet whilst I’m off?
You do not need to input anything on your timesheet for the days you are on annual leave. As long as you have followed process and informed us in advance, we manage this for you and ensure you receive the correct pay.
What happens if my contract ends and I haven’t used my accrued holiday?
Any outstanding accrued holiday you have remaining at the end of your contract will be processed to you at the end of your employment when we issue your P45
If I don’t want to take annual leave, can I request my holiday pay?
Unfortunately not. You can only request your holiday pay for periods of annual leave, or at the end of your employment contract.
If permanent colleagues in my team are entitled to more annual leave than is statutory, will I receive the same?
Yes, once you have hit your AWR qualifying period (from week 13 of your employment), you will be entitled to the same perks and benefits as someone in the same job as you in the business, which will include holiday entitlement. We keep on top of this process for you and request the necessary information from whichever business you are working within and will adjust your annual leave entitlement accordingly as well as inform you of any changes.
Hopefully this article helps clear up a few mysteries around holiday pay and entitlement for temporary workers!
If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact your consultant, refer to your booking confirmation or call us on 0113 2337760
