What is the holiday entitlement for homeworkers?

Everyone at work is entitled to a minimum of four weeks’ paid holiday a year.

The position is complicated for homeworkers who often do not have any set hours, or are paid on ‘piece-work’, or have hours that vary considerably over time. Weekly holiday pay should be the average weekly pay that you earned over the last 12 weeks. Any week during the last 12 in which no pay is received is replaced by the week before, until you have a total of 12 weeks on which to work out your average weekly pay.

Note that employers can quite lawfully count Bank Holidays towards your four weeks’ paid leave entitlement.

In the past, some employers have tried to get out of paying holiday pay by saying that your hourly pay rate already includes holiday pay and that they therefore do not have to pay you if you take a holiday. However, as a result of an European Court of Justice decision, this practice is now unlawful, and homeworkers now have a legal right to be paid for those days when they take holiday.

If in doubt about your entitlement, seek further assistance from your union, from National Group on Homeworking or from an advice agency such as the CAB.