WFM UK: Christmas Processing Guide

Overview

This guide contains the payroll bureau's opening hours during the festive period. It also outlines the key processing deadlines for submitting payroll amendments, as well as payment and deduction uploads, to help ensure all payroll activities are completed on time during the festive period.

Christmas and New Year Pay Dates

Please see below the approval and BACS submission dates if your pay dates fall between Friday 18th December 2026 and Wednesday 6th January 2027.

Important Information

 

Only critical amendments sent after 11am on 24th December 2026 will be processed between 24th December 2026 and 4th January 2027. Critical amendments are:

• Any overpayments, to avoid leavers being overpaid
• Any Fourth errors

 

It is important that all schedules/rotas are closed by the deadlines specified, to enable us to complete full payroll checks. If any schedules/rotas are submitted after the deadline, we cannot guarantee that full payroll checks will be completed.

Please spend time thoroughly checking your timetable deadlines during Christmas processing. Fourth will process any uploads, amendments, and/or additions to payrolls received within the correct deadlines for payrolls in the week commencing 21st December 2026, as agreed within your timetable.

To ensure your employees are paid on your chosen pay date, email your confirmed festive pay dates to payroll@fourth.com by Friday 11th September 2026. If you would like to talk to us about any deadlines or proposed pay dates before your final decision is made, please call or email us and we will be happy to help.

If we do not have receipt of your preferred payment dates by Friday 11th September 2026, we will process your payment on the normal pay date, or on the working day prior to your normal pay date (should your normal pay date fall on a non-processing day). Any pay date changes received after Friday 11th September 2026 will be at the discretion of your Payroll Specialist, due to workforce planning over the Christmas period.

Payroll Bureau Opening Times