Overview
When calculating holiday entitlement for employees with a flexible employment type, it can be essential to take into account their full working history, not just the period since moving to flexible. The standard approach of using 52 weeks of rota data (or 12 weeks in Northern Ireland), looking back as far as 104 weeks where necessary, continues to apply.
However, the calculation can now also include rota data from any previous full-time or part-time employment. This means that shifts worked before the transition to flexible employment still count towards the 52-week average, ensuring a fairer and more accurate reflection of average earnings and holiday entitlement.
Important: The calculation of Flexible holiday remains the same, but with the new setting (below) enabled will include rota weeks where the full-time (or part-time) employee is included in the Rota.
Please note: References to 'Rota' throughout this article mean employees with scheduled shifts in the Rota or Scheduling modules.
New Setting Available from 2nd October 2025
From 2nd October 2025, a new setting will be released and made available upon request. While it won’t be enabled by default (for an indefinite period), customers who wish to activate it can do so by contacting our support team.
Global Setting
Including the full-time or part-time data in the flexible holiday calculation remains the choice of the customer, and can be done by enabling a new global setting.
- Go to HR > Administration > Global Settings > Edit Default Holiday Settings > Holiday Calculations
- Tick Include Full Time/Part Time Rota Weeks in Flexible Holiday Calculations
- and Save
Collecting Rota Data
Example
Important: Flexible Holiday calculation includes full-time/part-time rota data only if the employee was included in the Rota at any time they were on full-time/part-time.
Employee:
- Employee is salaried when full-time, with a £40,000 annual salary
- Employee is hourly paid when flexible, with an hourly rate of £18.50
Last 52 Weeks of Rota Data:
Please note: The process for collecting rota data for the flexible holiday calculation remains unchanged. The system will collect up to 52 worked weeks of data (going back as far as 104 weeks if needed) to reach a complete 52 worked weeks. Rota weeks that include absence days or holidays will continue to be treated in the same way as before (depending on whether the portal is configured to include them or not).
With the new setting enabled, the flexible holiday calculation will now bring rota data submitted under the employee's full-time/part-time employment and be included.
Employment Type |
Rota Week |
Hours in Rota Week |
Total Hours in 52 Week Period |
Days Worked in Rota |
Total Days in 52 Week Period |
Pay Rate |
Calculation |
Rota Week Pay |
Total Pay in 52 Week Period |
full time |
1 |
40 |
40 |
5 |
5 |
£40,000 |
40000 / 52 |
£769.23 |
£769.23 |
full time |
2 |
40 |
80 |
5 |
10 |
£40,000 |
40000 / 52 |
£769.23 |
£1,538.46 |
full time |
(Rota Week 3 to 16) ... |
||||||||
full time |
17 |
40 |
680 |
5 |
85 |
£40,000 |
40000 / 52 |
£769.23 |
£13,076.91 |
Flexible |
18 |
48 |
728 |
6 |
91 |
£18.50 |
18.50 * 48 |
£888.00 |
£13,964.91 |
Flexible |
19 |
29 |
757 |
4 |
95 |
£18.50 |
18.50 * 29 |
£536.50 |
£14501.41 |
Flexible |
(Rota Week 20 to 51) ... |
||||||||
Flexible |
52 |
31 |
2011 |
4 |
255 |
£18.50 |
18.50 * 31 |
£573.50 |
£37,704.86 |
The last (up to) 52-week history for the flexible holiday calculations is then available and will be used.
Employment |
Pay Rate |
No. Weeks Rota Data |
Total No. Hour |
Total No. Days |
Total Pay |
full time |
£40,000 per year |
17 |
680 |
85 |
£13,076.91 |
Flexible |
£18.50 per hour |
35 |
1331 |
170 |
£24,627.95 |
Total |
N/A |
52 |
2011 |
255 |
£37,704.86 |
Once up to 52 weeks of data have been established, the flexible holiday calculation, whether shown in days or hours, continues to operate as expected and in the same way as before this release.
Remember, the 52-week calculation is dynamic, meaning it automatically updates as new rota weeks are submitted. Each new week added replaces the oldest week in the record, ensuring the calculation always reflects the most recent 52 weeks of data.
For more information, please see WFM UK: Holidays: Allowance Calculations for Flexible Employees
Consideration of Pro Rata Holiday when moving from Full/Part-Time to Flexible
This enhancement works in conjunction with the existing 'Pro Rata holiday when moving between full-time/part-time and flexible' setting. Depending on whether rota data exists and how the pro rata setting is configured, the flexible holiday calculation will behave differently:
-
New setting enabled & Pro Rata setting enabled
Flexible Holiday calculation includes full-time/part-time rota data (if the employee was included in the Rota during that period), plus a pro rata calculation for the FT/PT period. The carried-over allowance is then added on top of the flexible holiday allowance
-
New setting enabled & Pro Rata setting disabled
Flexible holiday calculation starts fresh from the point of transition, but will include FT/PT rota data (if the employee was included in the Rota during that period) as part of the flexible calculation
-
New setting disabled & Pro Rata setting enabled
Flexible holiday calculation starts fresh and only considers rota data submitted while flexible. However, an additional allowance is calculated based on the pro rata period worked under FT/PT and carried forward
If the 'Pro Rata holiday when moving between full-time/part-time and flexible' setting is also being enabled, a pro rata calculation will take place on the time the employee was full-time and then carry any holiday allowance to their flexible employment. This allowance is added to the calculated holiday allowance following the flexible calculation.
For example,
An employee's holiday year is 01/04/2025 to 31/03/2026, and they changed from full-time to flexible effective 01/12/2025.
Their full-time holiday allowance (set at job title level), is 28 days for the holiday year.
Using these values, the Flexible Holiday Allowance would be calculated at 27.5 days allowed for the holiday year (as per this article).
Their allowance would be calculated as such:
- Number of days as full-time: 244 days (between 01/04/2025 and 30/11/2025)
- Number of days as flexible: 121 days (between 01/12/2025 and 31/03/2026)
- Number of days in the holiday year: 365 days (between 01/04/2025 and 31/03/2026)
- Full-time holiday allowance: 28 days
- Flexible holiday allowance: 27.5 days
Pro Rata Full-Time Holiday Allowance:
244 ÷ 365 = 0.66849315068
0.66849315068 x 28 = 19 (rounded up to next 0.5)
19 days of full-time holiday allowance during the time as full-time
Flexible Holiday Allowance:
121 ÷ 365 = 0.33150684931
0.33150684931 x 27.5 = 9.5 (rounded up to next 0.5)
9.5 days of flexible holiday allowance during the time as flexible
Total Holiday Allowance:
19 + 9.5 = 28.5 Days
28.5 days of holiday allowance (full-time pro rata + flexible calculation)
Please note: The same calculation would apply if flexible holiday is displayed in hours. The full-time/part-time allowance would be converted to hours via the employee's FTE (Override FTE) or their job title's FTE.
Please note: This is how the 'Pro Rata holiday when moving between full-time/part-time and flexible' setting would operate, regardless of whether the new setting was enabled or not. This is to highlight the enablement of both settings.
Holiday Allowance Calculation & Rota Weeks Used Pop-Ups
The two pop-ups available to view the holiday allowance calculation and the rota weeks included in the holiday calculations have been updated to reflect the inclusion of full-time & part-time rota data when used.
- Go to HR > Employees > Employee List > search for and select Employee
- Use the employee side menu and go to HR > Employee HR Info > Holidays
- Select the "i" icon next to Days Allowed
- Select the "i" icon next to Avg Hours/Week
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