Holiday calculation
Information for managers on calculating holiday for staff
The University's standard leave entitlements are contractual and may not be varied locally.
Last updated 1 November 2024
The first step is to check the annual leave entitlement as set out in the employee’s contract of employment.
For most support staff and academic-related staff the minimum holiday entitlement is 38 days per annum inclusive of public holidays and fixed days of closure (pro rata if part-time).
Note that different holiday entitlements apply to some staff, including:
- Some clinical academic-related staff on NHS-equivalent scales
- Academic staff
- Some staff who have transferred to the University through a TUPE arrangement
Individuals may also have long service leave entitlements, or have an agreed arrangement about Additional Annual Leave.
Holiday Calculator
An Excel holiday calculator is available to download from the right-hand side of this page which can be used calculate leave for support and academic-related staff with fixed hours of work including:
- part-time and part-year employees, including term-time only
- those starting or leaving work or changing contractual hours during the course of the year
- standard casual workers working on max 12 week engagements.
Casual teachers, casual examiners and student ambassadors [whose letters of engagement were issued after June 2024] receive rolled-up holiday pay which means that, for every hour that they work an additional 12.07% is paid to them as holiday pay at the same time as they are paid for the hours worked. Staff in these groups are not eligible to book paid holiday through the University as they receive their holiday pay each month, and this allows them to take paid holiday during periods when they are not working.
For variable hours staff, information about how to calculate holiday is given in the tab below.
Please read the guidance for the relevant staff group in this section, and note that the calculator only works where the standard terms and conditions for the grade apply.
Where staff are working regular overtime, additional holiday entitlement is not accrued. Instead the rate of pay the individual receives when they take their standard holiday entitlement should reflect the average rate of pay they receive when working. For further information about holiday pay for staff working regular overtime, contact the Reward team (reward@admin.ox.ac.uk)
Calculating holiday entitlement for part-time staff
Holiday for part-time staff is prorated in proportionate to the number of hours they work. Holiday for these staff is typically calculated as hours and not days/weeks.
In terms of managing leave, where a part-time member of staff works a fixed number of hours on each working day of the week (eg 3 hours per day, Monday to Friday) then the annual leave entitlement can be managed in the same way as for a member of full-time staff, ie 38 ‘days’ where each day is paid at their normal rate of pay for the day.
Where a part-time member of staff works to a regular pattern but does not work the same hours each day, and/or does not work every working day of the week, the following step-by-step guide provides a calculation based on hours worked.
NB calculations need to be done annually to take account of the actual days when bank holidays and fixed closure days fall.
For variable hours and term-time only and annualised hours employees see other tabs, above.
In other cases where it is not possible to follow this guide for a particular working pattern, please seek assistance from your HR Business Partner.
Step-by-step guide to calculating leave entitlement for part-time employees
The standard minimum holiday entitlement for employees is 38 days per annum inclusive of the standard 8 bank holiday and any departmental fixed closure days. (See separate guidance for casual workers).
Standard full-time working hours:
- for support staff contracted hours are 36.5 hours per week
- for academic-related staff a notional 37.5 hour week is used for holiday and associated pay calculations.
This guide uses the example of a University support staff employee with 38 days leave entitlement who works 18 hours per week (49.3%FTE) to the following pattern:
- 7 hours per day on both Wednesdays and Thursdays
- 4 hours on Fridays
- Does not work on Mondays and Tuesdays
Check whether employee is eligible for additional long service days (or other variant, eg TUPE terms).
In this example, the employee is support staff on standard 38 days holiday and the full-time equivalent entitlement is therefore 38 days x 7.3 hours per working day = 277.4 hours
Divide the contracted weekly hours by the standard weekly hours for full time and multiply by 100 to get the %FTE. In this example, the part-time support staff employee works a total of 18 hours per week, divided by 36.5 full-time weekly hours x 100 = 49.3% of the full-time hours.
A part-time employee is entitled to a leave allowance in the same proportion to that of a full-timer.
In this example the full-time leave allowance is 277.4 hours (38 days x 7.3 hours). The part-timer works 49.3% of full time hours and is therefore entitled to a leave allowance equalling 49.3% of 277.4 hours. This works out at 136.8 hours of leave.
To calculate the employee's personal leave entitlement for the year, deduct the appropriate number of hours for any fixed closure days and bank holidays which fall during that particular year on days when they would otherwise have been due to work.
In our example, there is 1 Bank holiday/Fixed closure which falls on a Thursday (7 hours) and 2 on Fridays (2 x 4 hours). Therefore 15 hours should be deducted from the total of 136.8 giving 121.8 hours of personal leave entitlement that they can book. This figure may be rounded to the nearest half hour, for example, 122 hours.
Set up a leave record indicating the total allowance and deduct all hours of leave as they are taken.
So
- if the part-timer in our example takes 1 week's personal leave, you deduct 18 hours.
- If they take a day's leave you deduct 7 hours for a day they work full-time hours and 4 hours for their part-day.
All leave should be used within the year – in the event that carry over is agreed the maximum that can be carried over is also pro-rated. As the maximum carry over is the equivalent of one week, in this case 18 hours could be carried over, by agreement.
Calculating holiday entitlement for variable hours staff
Holiday entitlement is accrued on the basis of number of hours worked using the full-time equivalent of 38 days (plus any additional entitlements such as long service leave).
- convert the leave entitlement from days into weeks (eg for 38 days this would be 7.6 weeks)
- subtract the number of weeks of leave entitlement from the total number of weeks in the year (ie 52) to give the number of potential weeks that can be worked during the year: (eg 52 – 7.6 weeks = 44.4 weeks)
- divide the number of weeks of leave entitlement by the number of weeks of potential work, and multiply this by 100 to give a percentage (eg 7.6 divided by 44.4 x 100 = 17.1%).
Therefore, for someone with a standard 38 days holiday entitlement, for every hour worked 17.1% of that hour is accrued as leave entitlement.
If the employee is entitled to 42 days annual leave then the accrual rate would be (42 days divided by 5 = 8.4 weeks, meaning only 43.6 weeks of the year can be worked. 8.4 divided by 43.6 x 100 = 19.26%)
Whenever a variable hours employee submits their timesheet of hours worked for payment a calculation of holiday accrual should be made and added to a running total in the year.
Holiday can only be paid in relation to an actual period of time which has been booked as leave: it cannot be paid in lieu of taking leave, except if the variable hours employee’s employment is terminating. Therefore, variable hours employees should request to take leave in the same way as any other employee. The agreed hours of leave should be recorded on the employee’s holiday record and submitted to Payroll for payment in the same way as for hours worked. That is, if an employee has worked for 40 hours during a month, and would like to book 7 hours paid leave, then the request to payroll is for 47 hours to be paid. It is not coded as ‘holiday pay’ – as this code is only to be used for holiday which is paid in lieu when an employee is leaving the University.
Variable hours employees are subject to the same rules as other employees concerning management approval for leave requests, carry over, etc, and they should have accrued enough holiday to cover the leave they are requesting.
If carry over is agreed, this needs to be prorated to the 5 day maximum carry over. This will require an average of the individual’s weekly hours across the last 52 weeks to be calculated to give a representative %FTE.
Calculating holiday entitlement for term-time only staff
There are two payment methodologies:
- Employees may be paid annually where their annual contracted hours and associated holiday is calculated, and is then paid in 12 equal portions throughout the year so that pay is received whether or not work is undertaken in a particular month, or
- They may be paid termly, so pay is only received in in the months in which they work or are on leave.
In both cases, appropriate annual leave should be calculated and a period of time allocated at the end of the term which is identified as annual leave, and during which period they are not required to work.
Employees with a standard 38 days holiday per year are entitled to paid holiday at the rate of 17.1% of every hour worked calculated as:
- 38 days leave divided by 5 days = 7.6 weeks of leave entitlement
- 52 weeks minus 7.6 = 44.4 potential weeks in each year that can be worked
- 7.6 weeks holiday entitlement divided by 44.4 weeks’ work x 100 = 17.1%.
Therefore, for every hour worked 17.1% of that hour is accrued as leave entitlement.
If the individual has a higher holiday entitlement due to long service leave, the same calculation methodology applies.
As pay is calculated on the basis of a set number of hours being worked within the term, and leave being taken out of term, should the employee need to take a period of leave during term time, and in hours when they are expected to be working, it should be either taken as unpaid leave, or the hours need to be worked at another time.
Example: Term-time only worker paid on a term-by-term basis
A member of University support staff works 20 hours per week (4 hours per day over 5 days) for 8 weeks each term. They are paid only when they are working and for a period at the end of each term which is defined as holiday.
The number of hours per year that this employee would actually attend work would be:
- 4 hours per day x 5 days per week x 8 weeks per term x 3 terms per year = 480 hours per year worked.
Holiday entitlement is calculated as:
- 480h worked x 17.1% = 82.08 hours holiday accrued.
- Total: 480 hours worked plus 82.08 hours holiday = 562h.
FTE is calculated as:
- Full-time hours for support staff = 1898 hours per year (260 working days per year x 7.3 hours standard working week for support staff)
- 562 divided by 1898 = 29.6% FTE.
The hours worked are paid over the 8 weeks of term plus an appropriate period for holiday at the end of term. One third of the 82.08h holiday (27.36h) should be identified and recorded as holiday at the end of each term during which the employee may not carry out any work for the University.
Example: Term-time only worker paid on an annual basis
A member of University support staff works 15 hours per week (3 hours per day over 5 days) for 9 weeks in each term and is to be paid on an annual basis.
The number of hours per year that the above employee would actually work would be:
- 9 weeks x 3 terms x 5 days x 15/5 hours per day = 405 hours per year
Holiday entitlement is calculated as:
- 405h x 17.1% = 69.3 hours holiday accrued
Total = 474.3 hours per year
FTE is calculated as
- Full-time hours for support staff = 1898 hours per year (260 working days per year x 7.3 hours standard working week)
- 474.3h divided by 1898 = 25% FTE.
The pro rata salary, which takes account of appropriate prorated holiday is paid on a monthly basis spread equally through the year. An appropriate period (equivalent to one third of the 69.3h holiday entitlement) should be identified after the end of each term as annual leave during which period the employee must not carry out any work for the University.
Casual workers (standard 12 week max engagements)
For casual teachers and student ambassadors, see guidance below.
Casual workers on 12 week maximum engagements are entitled to statutory leave of 5.6 weeks (28 working days) per complete year, including public holidays and any departmental closure days. The individual's leave year starts on the first day of their engagement and ends on the date they leave.
Leave is accrued at the rate of 12.07% of the hours worked. Leave should be recorded as it is accrued and, if booked, paid against a time period agreed with the worker, during which period they should not carry out any work for the University. The holiday calculator can be used to carry out this calculation.
At the end of the casual appointment the worker may be paid any accrued, untaken leave entitlement with their last payment, calculated on the basis of 12.07% of the hours worked during the period of the engagement, less any hours of holiday taken. This should be rounded up to the nearest half hour.
If the worker has taken more holiday than their accrued entitlement at the date that their engagement ends, the University is entitled to deduct the excess holiday pay from any outstanding payments due to the worker.
Example: short-term casual worker who has submitted a weekly timesheet showing 20 hours worked
Step 1: calculate the holiday accrual
12.07% of 20 hours = 2.414 hours. Round up to nearest half hour = 2.5 hours
Step 2: record the accrual
A note should be kept of the accrued leave, but only the hours worked are submitted when payment is requested.
Step 3: taking leave
The casual workers may request to book their accrued leave during the period of the casual engagement. If it is operationally possible to agree the leave, then any accrued leave can be taken as paid leave. The hours should be submitted for payment as hours worked, not holiday (the holiday pay code is only used for payment in lieu of holiday taken).
Step 4: paying in lieu at contract end
At the end of the engagement all accrued, untaken leave should be paid in lieu. This is requested with the final payment request and is coded as ‘holiday pay’.
Casual teachers, casual examiners and student ambassadors
HR teams do not need to carry out leave calculations for casual teachers, casual examiners and student ambassadors [who were issued letters of engagement after June 2024] as they receive rolled-up holiday pay which means that, for every hour that they work an additional 12.07% is paid to them as holiday pay at the same time as they are paid for the hours worked. This is done automatically through PXD by adding an allowance to the appointment which enables the post to be identified by Payroll and for the rolled-up holiday pay to be automatically calculated and added each month. See HR Systems guide - Create a new casual appointment.
As holiday payment is being made in advance, casual teachers and student ambassadors may book periods when they are on leave and unavailable for work, but this cannot be booked as paid holiday, and no ‘pay in lieu of accrued untaken holiday’ can be calculated at the end of the appointment as holiday pay is made against each hour worked.
Any requests made for holiday pay (including pay in lieu of accrued, untaken holiday) for casual teachers and student ambassadors will be returned to departments by the Payroll team.
Some clinical academic-related staff on NHS-equivalent scales have different holiday entitlements.
|
Job type |
Grade | Number of days leave per annum |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Clinical Researcher holding old consultant contract | Grade E62 | 40 days |
| Clinical Researcher | Grade E63, E64, E65, E66 and E71(*) | 40 days |
| Clinical consultant | E82 | 40 days |
|
All entitlements are inclusive of public holidays and any fixed days of closure |
||
|
(*) for E71 - 40 days, if on third point of scale or higher, 35 days below third point. |
||
FAQs - changes implemented October 2024
The changes to holiday pay for casuals and variable hours staff issued in October have given rise to questions and a new FAQ is being developed below which will be updated in the coming weeks.
‘Rolled-up’ holiday pay means adding an additional amount for holiday pay every time you make a salary payment, instead of staff accruing holiday and then being paid for it when they book and take it.
Rolled-up pay must be:
- paid at the same time as the worker is paid for the work done in that pay period, and
- calculated at a rate of at least 12.07% of the worker's total pay in a 'pay period'. 12.07% is equivalent to the statutory minimum of 28 days leave per year and a pay period is how often someone gets paid, which for workers at Oxford is typically monthly, and
- shown as a separate pay element on the worker's payslip.
Rolled-up holiday pay was reintroduced as a legally compliant pay mechanism for irregular hours and part-year workers in April 2024. The University reviewed it's application and have implemented it as a payment route for casual teachers, student ambassadors and casual examiners with contracts issued using the revised template issued in June 2024. It is not available for other appointment types.
Note that employers still need to ensure that staff have the opportunity to take sufficient leave during the course of a holiday year – ie you could not pay someone rolled-up holiday pay and then employ them to work the whole year without there being an opportunity within that period for them to take at least a minimum of 28 days leave (pro rata if appropriate).
Under the regulations, rolled-up holiday pay can only be used for irregular hours and part-year workers. See definitions.
After careful consideration and consultation it has been decided that the only appointment types that consistently meet the legislative requirements to allow rolled-up pay to be used are:
- Casual teachers
- Casual student ambassadors
- Casual examiners
Rolled-up pay is not available for:
- standard casual workers, as not all casual workers are irregular or part-year, according to the legal definitions
- variable hours employees, as we would still be required to keep separate holiday records and ensure that leave is taken so this would cause additional administrative burden
- term-time only workers, as the majority of TTO staff are paid on an annualised hours basis which would not support rolled-up pay
- any other type of appointment except as described above.
In order to ensure that rolled-up pay is calculated and paid consistently to casual teaching and student ambassador appointments they must have a new allowance added:
“4233 - ~CAS HOLIDAY PAY ROLLED UP” - see the PXD guide Create a new casual appointment
Having done this, departments simply need to submit claims for hours worked (whether via the timesheet or through PXD). Rolled-up holiday pay is applied automatically to all qualifying payments made against appointments to which the allowance has been added.
The Casual rolled-up holiday pay allowance cannot be used against any other type of appointment.
As holiday payment is being made in advance, casual teachers and student ambassadors may book periods when they are on leave and unavailable for work, but no further payment is made during this leave. ie casual teachers cannot book paid holiday, and must not be paid in lieu of accrued untaken holiday when employment terminates - as all holiday pay will have been paid automatically against each hour paid.
Holiday is accrued at the rate of 12.07% of each hour worked. Payment for holiday can only be made when holiday is booked and taken, or paid in lieu when employment is terminating. Where departments were previously using rolled-up pay for these groups this was not compliant, and must not be continued.
Holiday accrual should be recorded, as hours are worked. When the casual worker or variable hours employee wishes to book leave, they do so from their accrued balance and holiday pay is requested at the time they take the leave. This can be done within the same month, if the casual worker wishes to agree to take hours of leave within the pay period, and these are hours in which they were not working for you.
Holiday must be taken within the holiday year in which is accrued.
Variable hours employees accrue holiday at the rate set out in their contract. See the 'Variable Hours' tab for information about calculating holiday.
In common with other employees, holiday can only be paid when the employee books and takes holiday, or may be paid in lieu when employment is terminating.
Rolled-up pay is not allowable for variable hours employees.
The normal rules on carry over apply.
No, as the letter of engagement did not allow for this. Only letters of engagement issued since June 2024 include the necessary contractual wording to allow rolled-up pay. Those engaged before this date should book and take leave within the appointment, or have accrued leave paid in lieu when the engagement terminates.
No, rolled-up holiday can only be paid against a casual teaching, casual examining or student ambassador appointment, which has been set up as such and for which the new format of letter of engagement has been used which allows the use of rolled-up pay. If the allowance is applied to other post types pay will not be actioned within the payroll system.
No, posts eligible for rolled-up holiday pay are all paid the statutory holiday entitlement of 28 days per annum, which accrues holiday pay at the rate of 12.07% for each hour worked. Only employees accrue leave at the rate of 38 days (17.1%) or higher where long service additional days are awarded. The holiday pay allowance will only calculate leave at the rate of 12.07%.
