April 2024 Holiday Pay and Entitlement Reforms

The UK government has introduced reforms to simplify holiday entitlement and holiday pay calculations for Working Time Regulations. This information uses the following guidance summarized from this source.

These changes include:

  • Defining irregular hours workers and part-year workers in relation to the introduction of the holiday entitlement accrual method and rolled-up holiday pay.

  • Introducing a method to calculate statutory holiday entitlement for irregular hours and part-year workers.

  • Introducing a method to work out how much leave an irregular hour or part-year worker has accrued when they take maternity or family related leave or are off sick.

  • Removing the Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 which affect the accrual of COVID-19 carry over of leave.

  • Maintaining the current rates of holiday pay where 4 weeks is paid at normal rate of pay and 1.6 weeks paid at basic rate of pay, whilst retaining the 2 distinct pots of leave.

  • Defining what is considered ‘normal remuneration’ in relation to the 4 weeks of statutory annual leave.

  • Introducing rolled-up holiday pay as an alternative method to calculate holiday pay for irregular-hours workers and part-year workers.

For more information see the agency notice. For existing and last-minute changes use this link.

This update is provided solely to enhance knowledge on compliance matters. It does not provide legal, or other professional advice and it does not consider any specific employer facts and circumstances. Consult your legal representative before acting on anything reviewed in this article.

How can you address these changes in the Timegate applications?

Timegate offers flexibility in the setup of Absence Rules today. You can use the following methods of setup in the software to help comply with the 1 April 2024 leave entitlement changes.

  • Create separate Absence Rules for UK and EU accruals. This allows for each leave to be separated for pay and reporting.

  • Multiple Absence Rules can be configured against a single worker or employee. Balances are available on the Employee Profile Absence Tab.

  • Employee absence and pay reports are available today to provide balance information, adjustments and pay amounts.

  • Manual adjustments to leave balances is available in the Absence tab on the Employee profile.

  • Overbooking.

  • Rollover amounts (Carried Forward) are configured against the Absence Rule.

  • Allowing workers to overbook leave is configured on the Absence Rule.

How will TEAM Software ensure they are providing functionality in the software that is compliant with the changes?

The following areas within the software will be reviewed with the possibility of enhancing:

  • Diary Events. To provide flexibility on assignment.

  • Employee Portal / Mobile to create visibility to the Worker as to what types of Leave they have available/used.

  • Leave Entitlement balance adjustments auditing.

  • Bank Holiday Stand Down process.

  • Automated Absence process.

  • Reports / Insights.