Part-Time Holiday Calculator

A part-time holiday calculator is any tool that allows a part-time worker to calculate the number of days/hours holiday they are entitled to. It often takes the form of a piece of computer software that automates much of the process. Many can be found online while others can be downloaded to a PC or other electronic device.

Many full-time workers work the same fixed shifts/hours every week. This makes working out holiday entitlement easy. For most full-time staff this is simply 5.6 weeks leave and equates to 28 days.

Part-time workers, on the other hand, often work varying shift patterns and hours. This makes working out leave entitlement difficult, although the final calculation will still leave the employee with the equivalent of 5.6 weeks leave.

Figuring out full-time holiday allowance is usually nice and easy. But part-time calculations are much more difficult? Calculating holiday allowances for part time staff can often be a daunting task and may be different depending on the number of hours and type of contract the employee has. Let’s have a look at a few different scenarios.

1. Employees Who Work Regular Hours

The first thing to remember is that, like full-time employees, part-time employees use the factor of 5.6 weeks per year. But as they work less days/hours than full time workers, the amount of actual leave will be less than the expected 28 days.

Here’s the formula for working out the number of days leave for an employee who works regular hours each shift:
Number of days worked per week x 5.6 = days of allowance per year

2. Employees Who Work Irregular Hours

For workers who work irregular hours the calculation needs to be done in hours rather than days. Holiday entitlement for irregular workers is often accrued at the rate of12.07% of the hours that they work each month. This 12.07% figure comes from the formula:

5.6 weeks’ holiday ÷ 46.4 weeks (52 weeks – 5.6 weeks) x100.

For example, if an employee works 40 hours in random shift patterns over a month the formula would look like this:

12.07% of 40 = 4.828 days holiday.

Obviously, these calculations can become tricky quite quickly. This is where a part-time holiday calculator comes in.

This often depends on the calculator used, but most will ask the following questions:

1. Number of hours worked in a specific time period. This is often yearly or monthly. This will allow the software to work out the number of hours holiday entitlement the employee should receive.

2. Shift patterns. If the employee works varying hours but in a specific shift pattern, the holiday calculator may ask what these shift patterns are. This will allow it to work out the number of hours the worker works over a year.

3. Overtime or expected overtime hours. Legally employers have to take into account overtime hours when working out holiday pay. As such, holiday calculation software may ask for the same information so it can factor this into its calculations.

There are many benefits to using a leave calculator, especially if you work part-time. These include:
1. Easy to use. Most part-time holiday calculators will guide you through the process of calculating leave.
2. Quick. Working out holiday entitlement can be time-consuming. A leave calculator will often give you an answer in seconds.
3. Accurate. While working out holiday entitlement by hand can lead to errors, holiday calculators are rarely wrong.