Holiday and final pay · Great Britain
Can my employer deduct pay if I take too much holiday?
If you leave after taking more holiday than you accrued, your employer can deduct the excess from your final pay only if you agreed to it beforehand in writing. Check your contract or other written agreement and ask payroll to show the clause and the calculation it used.
How to check a negative holiday balance
For a regular working pattern, estimate the fraction of the leave year you were employed, multiply it by your full-year allowance and subtract the leave you took. For example, if you were employed for exactly half the leave year and have a 28-day allowance, your estimate is 14 accrued days. If you took 16 days, the estimated balance is two days over. Check your employer’s dates, any bank holidays it counted and any carry-over.
Use the tool to calculate your pro-rata holiday balance.
What if final pay looks lower than minimum wage?
National Minimum Wage is assessed using eligible pay and hours for the relevant pay reference period, rather than the amount deposited in your bank account. Some deductions reduce pay for that test and others are excluded, including certain deductions for a specified contractual liability arising from an event. A written agreement permitting a holiday deduction does not by itself settle the minimum wage question. Ask payroll how it treated the deduction, and contact Acas if you think your minimum wage or deduction was calculated incorrectly.