Irregular hours workers will now be able to accrue holiday entitlement while on maternity or paternity leave, reflecting a more consistent and fair approach to leave calculations.
Under this update, holiday accrual during maternity or paternity leave is based solely on the days recorded as maternity or paternity pay. When using this function, only the employee’s actual working days should be recorded, as accrual is calculated for each of those days rather than across a full seven day week.
The holiday accrual itself is based on the employee’s average shift length over the previous 52 weeks. This ensures that entitlement reflects the individual’s typical working pattern rather than a fixed or assumed schedule. Once the average shift length has been established, the system applies the standard accrual rate of 12.07% to determine how much holiday is built up during the maternity or paternity pay period.
This approach provides a clearer and more accurate method for managing leave for irregular hours workers. By focusing only on relevant working days and using a 52 week average, it avoids over or underestimating entitlement and supports fair treatment across different working patterns.