Agency workers: holiday pay and sick pay

Agency workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year, and the agency pays it. If you are eligible, you also get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the first day you are off, at £123.25 a week or 80% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. What agency workers do not get, even after 12 weeks in the same job, is the enhanced sick pay that directly employed staff may have.

How holiday builds up

Holiday starts building from the first day of an assignment, and the minimum is 5.6 weeks per leave year. For a five-day week that is 28 days, and bank holidays can be counted within it. If you work fewer days, the entitlement is worked out in proportion. The holiday entitlement guide covers the basic rules.

Many agency workers have no fixed pattern, working a week here and nothing the next. For irregular-hours and part-year workers, in leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, holiday accrues at 12.07% of hours worked. A part-year worker is someone with periods of at least a week in the leave year when they do not work. Your holiday does not stop building up while you are off sick.

Rolled-up holiday pay

Instead of paying you when you take a day off, an agency can add holiday pay to each payslip as you go. This is called rolled-up holiday pay. It is allowed only for irregular-hours and part-year workers, and only for leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024.

The conditions are:

• It must be at least 12.07% of your total pay for the pay period.
• It is paid at the same time as the wages for the work you did.
• It must appear as a separate item on the payslip.
• The agency should tell you beforehand that it is using this method.

Say you earn £1,000 for the shifts you worked in a month. Rolled-up holiday pay at 12.07% would be £120.70 on top, so £1,120.70 before tax. If the payslip shows only one lump sum and no holiday line, ask the agency what is included. Holiday pay is taxed like other pay, and the holiday pay and tax guide explains how.

Who pays you

The agency pays you, not the school, trust or council where you work. It cannot refuse to pay you because the hirer is unhappy with your work, which is a matter between the agency and the hirer. It can delay payment for a reasonable time while it gets proof of your hours. If it does not provide timesheets, it is responsible for paying you for the hours you worked, and it must pay on time even if the hirer has not paid it.

You have the same right to an itemised payslip as other workers. If an umbrella company pays you, check the payslip still shows holiday, tax and National Insurance clearly.

Statutory Sick Pay

Agency workers can qualify for SSP. Since 6 April 2026 there is no lower earnings limit and no waiting days, so SSP is paid from the first day of sickness absence. It is paid for qualifying days, which are the days you would normally have worked.

According to gov.uk, you need to be classed as an employee, to have done some work and to have been ill for at least one full working day. You must also tell the agency you are sick by its deadline, or within 7 days if it has not set one. SSP lasts up to 28 weeks. You do not qualify if you have already had the maximum or are getting Statutory Maternity Pay. If the agency says you do not qualify, it must send you form SSP1 within 7 days of your first day off.

The gov.uk page says agency workers “may be entitled” to SSP, and Acas says eligibility depends on being classed as employed for tax purposes. If you are unsure which applies to you, Acas can help you check. The Statutory Sick Pay guide has the general rules.

What the 12-week rule changes

After 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, you get the same basic pay and conditions as someone recruited directly. That includes holiday and holiday pay above the legal minimum, overtime and shift allowances. The count restarts if you start with a different hirer or have a break of more than 6 weeks without a listed reason. The agency worker rights guide goes through the clock in detail.

Equal treatment excludes sick pay above SSP, so an NHS trust’s contractual sick pay scale does not follow you onto an agency assignment. The agency and the hirer may choose to pay more, but they do not have to.

NHS bank compared with agency

Bank staff are usually engaged by the trust or its own bank, so the trust pays holiday and, where the contract allows, sick pay on its terms. Agency staff are paid by the agency. The agency vs bank guide compares rates, pensions and holiday side by side.

If holiday or sick pay is wrong

Start with the agency, in writing, and say what you think is missing. Ask for the figures it used, including your hours and the holiday rate.

If that does not settle it, Acas gives free advice on holiday entitlement and working for an agency on 0300 123 1100 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm). Complaints about employment agency law go to the Fair Work Agency, which replaced the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. For pay problems you can also report to HMRC on gov.uk or make a claim to an employment tribunal, and you must contact Acas first for early conciliation. A union can advise you if you are a member.

This is general information, not advice on your own case. If you work in Northern Ireland, check the rules with nidirect or the Labour Relations Agency, as they may differ.