Holiday pay for agency workers may not have been explained to you previously in the simplest form.
This is the general feeling we get from candidates when they join SJR London, as this is a question that pops up all the time when registering with us.
First, what you need to know, is you are definitely entitled to holiday pay regardless of which sector your agency operates in. In this article, we will simplify holiday pay calculation for you, so keep reading.
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How Much Is Holiday Pay For Agency Workers?
Some agencies explain that your holiday entitlement is 28 days or 5.6 weeks' worth of annual leave per year with bank holidays.
This can still be complicated for most to work out what holiday accrual % rates mean and what they are entitled to.
I’d rather explain it like this, calculating holiday pay as an agency worker is accrued depending on the number of hours worked at a rate of 12.07%. Meaning if you work 10 hours, you have accrued 1.207 hours of holiday.
If we want to use a monetary value to understand this, then based on 10 hours of work being paid at £10.00ph (£100.00), you would have earned £12.07 in holiday entitlement.
Remember, you can only claim paid annual leave for worked hours. We have had candidates request a week's holiday pay after working only one week. Essentially they are asking for 40 hours of leave entitlement, having only worked 40 hours in total.
Of course, they have not worked enough hours to do it at that point. They would have only accrued 4.8 hours of holiday, which is obviously the equivalent of half a day.
You can use this holiday pay calculator below if you're unsure.
Can My Holiday Pay Be Included In My Hourly Rate?
NO! It must be calculated separately from your hourly rate and paid in addition to the hours you have worked.
We have had some candidates question our hourly pay rate, thinking that our competitor is paying them a higher hourly rate.
We then came to realise that their slightly higher hour hourly rate was inclusive of holiday pay, which actually meant their hourly rate was, in fact, less once you consider leave separately.
Including holiday pay in the basic hourly rate is something called wrapped-up holiday pay, which is not allowed.
If your agency is doing this with you, then you are within your rights to have them rectify this and can even ask for them to re-advertise the position with the corrected pay rate.
Can I Take My Holiday At Any Time?
At SJR London, you can request your holiday entitlement at any time. We need one week’s notice to process this in payroll.
Those who work with us will know that we pay weekly on a Friday. This means payroll is usually submitted to HMRC by Tuesday.
We do sometimes have candidates email on a Thursday asking if they can have their holiday pay processed with this week’s pay, which is not possible.
Each agency can decide when its annual leave year runs from. Ours at SJR London runs in line with the financial year (April – March ), and any untaken holiday pay does not carry over to the year.
So please remember to request within the final of March to make sure you do not lose any accrued holiday.
How Do I Request My Holiday Pay?
Simply send an email to accounts@sjrlondon.com requesting to take your holiday pay, and it will be processed in the next available payroll. Please remember it is your responsibility to make sure you have claimed your annual leave.