Legislation bulletin:

If a member of staff works different hours each week, presently you work out holiday pay by averaging out the 12 weeks worked prior to the holiday.

This calculation will change from and including 6 April 2020. If hours worked vary, then you average out the hours worked in the previous 52 weeks. This is likely to help workers on seasonal or variable-hours contracts who might take holiday after working less hours.

The principle is that staff should not receive less than their average pay when they go on holiday. All staff receive paid holiday unless they are completely self-employed. Holiday entitlement is a minimum of 28 days.

Many workers at dental practices have a fixed rate of pay and fixed hours, so this calculation does not apply to them, but do remember that staff who work overtime have hours that vary. Most staff get the same pay rate but ignore weeks where they get no pay.

If staff have not yet worked for a year, but for example 26 weeks, use this period. You total the number of hours worked over the year divided by 52 weeks to give you the average weekly hours. This is then multiplied by the average weekly pay rate.

Don't try to calculate hours on a monthly basis because the number of hours in each month vary depending on the month. Strictly speaking you shouldn't use a year but the previous 52 complete weeks (a year is not 52 complete weeks). A complete or whole week for this purpose, starts on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday.