These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications.
Q: Are we obliged to give holidays to temporary employees. If so, how much?
A: If the temporary employees are supplied by an agency then they are not your employees and the responsibility for giving them holidays rests with the agency. You must not put pressure on either the temporary employees or the agency to forego holidays to which they are entitled by law.
If the temps are your employees, that is they are on your payroll, then as far as the law is concerned you treat them in the same way as any other of your employees doing similar work.
The only way in which you treat them differently is that, when they join you, you indicate clearly that the job is temporary and for how long it is likely to last.
They are entitled to four weeks' paid holiday per year, if appropriate pro-rated down to reflect the number of months they have worked for you. This holiday entitlement is accumulated monthly in advance.
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