Overtime Holiday Pay Calculator
Calculate holiday pay including regular overtime using the 12-week reference period
Enter your pay for each of the 12 weeks before your holiday (excluding any weeks with no pay). This gives your average weekly pay including overtime.
Common Questions
Which types of overtime must be included in holiday pay?
Following Dudley v Willetts [2017]:
- Compulsory overtime: Always included — must be included in all holiday pay
- Non-guaranteed overtime: Included if worked regularly (employer not obliged to offer, but employee must accept if offered)
- Voluntary overtime: Included if worked with sufficient regularity to count as normal pay
One-off or genuinely sporadic overtime may not need to be included. The key test is whether the overtime is regular enough to form part of normal remuneration.
Does this apply to all 5.6 weeks of holiday?
No — this is a critical nuance. The enhanced holiday pay calculation (including overtime) only applies to the 4-week element of statutory leave derived from EU law (Article 7 of the Working Time Directive). The additional 1.6 weeks of UK statutory leave (and any contractual leave above 5.6 weeks) can be paid at basic rate only, unless the contract specifies otherwise. Employers can designate which leave is which to manage costs.
How far back can I claim underpaid holiday pay?
Claims for underpaid holiday pay are brought as unlawful deduction from wages claims. They must be filed within 3 months of the deduction (or the last in a series of deductions if there is a chain of underpayments). Employment Tribunal awards for these claims are limited to a maximum 2-year backstop period under the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014.
Enter 12 weeks of pay data to calculate your correct holiday pay including overtime.
Key Case Law
- Bear Scotland v Fulton [2014]
- Dudley MBC v Willetts [2017]
- Lock v British Gas [2016]
- Flowers v East of England [2019]
Related Calculators
What's included in this calculator
Compliant with case law for regular overtime.
Calculates the 'normal' pay for the 4-week EU portion.
Specific rules for different overtime types.
Estimate underpaid holiday for the past 2 years.
Advice on including performance bonuses in pay.
Guidance on Fair Work Agency record-keeping.
Overtime and Holiday Pay: The Legal Position
One of the most significant areas of holiday pay law in recent years concerns the treatment of overtime. For many years, UK employers paid holiday pay based only on basic salary, ignoring overtime. A series of Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal decisions changed this. Bear Scotland v Fulton [2014] established that non-guaranteed overtime must be included in the 4-week EU-derived element of statutory holiday pay. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts [2017] extended this to voluntary overtime that is worked with sufficient regularity.
The mechanism is the 12-week reference period. When a worker takes holiday, their holiday pay should be calculated using the average weekly pay over the 12 complete weeks immediately before the holiday begins, ignoring any weeks where no pay was received. This average will naturally include overtime earnings if overtime has been regularly worked during that period. A worker who regularly earns £100 per week in overtime will therefore receive a higher holiday pay rate than their basic pay alone would suggest.
However, it is important to understand that this enhanced calculation applies only to the 4-week EU-derived element of leave, not to the full 5.6 weeks of UK statutory leave. Employers are entitled to designate the order in which workers take their leave — typically exhausting the 4-week EU element first, meaning the overtime-inclusive rate applies to the first 20 days taken. Workers who believe they have been underpaid holiday pay can bring an unlawful deduction from wages claim at the Employment Tribunal, subject to the 3-month time limit and 2-year backstop on awards.