8% Holiday Pay Calculator

Under the Holidays Act 2003, employees get at least 4 weeks of paid annual holidays a year — and 4 weeks out of 52 is roughly 8% of your pay. The 8% figure is used whenever holiday entitlement is paid as money instead of time off: when you leave a job before your leave anniversary, when casual workers get holiday pay added to each payslip, and for the 'since your last anniversary' portion of any final pay.

Genuinely casual or intermittent workers, and people on fixed-term contracts shorter than 12 months, can agree in writing to receive 8% holiday pay on top of their wages with each pay ('pay-as-you-go'). Anyone who leaves a job also receives 8% of their gross earnings since their start date (or last leave anniversary) in their final pay.

Almost everything you were paid before tax: wages or salary, overtime, most bonuses and commissions, and payment for leave you took. It generally excludes genuinely discretionary payments and expense reimbursements. In a final pay, the 8% is also calculated on top of the unused leave and public holidays being paid out.

Yes — it's income, so PAYE applies. If it's paid out as a lump sum in your final pay, it's taxed as 'extra pay' at a flat rate based on your annual income, which can feel higher than your usual payslip tax but generally comes out in the wash at year end.

Only in limited cases. Pay-as-you-go holiday pay is only lawful for genuine casual workers or fixed-term contracts under 12 months, it must be agreed in your written employment agreement, and it must show as a separate, identifiable 8% amount on your payslip. If those conditions aren't met, you may still be owed annual leave on top.

Partly. Once you pass 12 months you have entitled leave (paid out at your normal rate when you leave), but your final pay also includes 8% of your gross earnings since your last work anniversary. Use the Final Pay Calculator to work out both parts together.