Holiday records: the 6-year duty (April 2026)

A new regulation 16B of the Working Time Regulations requires records adequate to show you have complied with statutory annual leave, holiday pay and pay in lieu rules. Records must be kept for six years from when they are made, in any format you reasonably choose. Not keeping them is an offence.

Who it affects

Every employer, whatever its size. The change was not well publicised, so many small employers have not yet adjusted.

What changes

• Duty to keep records of leave entitlement, leave taken, holiday pay and payments in lieu on termination.
• Retention: six years from the date each record is made.
• Failure to keep records is an offence under the Working Time Regulations.

What to do

1. Decide where holiday records live (HR system, payroll export or a spreadsheet) and who updates them.
2. Make sure the record shows how holiday pay was calculated, including the 12.07% accrual for irregular-hours staff.
3. Set a retention rule of six years and stop deleting leavers’ holiday records early.

Documents to review

• Staff handbook : Family leave, sickness and harassment sections match the policies; Holiday rules and how records are kept.
• Holiday and holiday pay records : Entitlement, leave taken and pay recorded per person; Irregular-hours accrual (12.07%) shown where used; Kept for six years, including leavers.

Tick these off and export the dates to your calendar in the business plan tab.

Sources

1. S.I. 2026/323 — Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026
2. Employment Rights Act 2025, section 35 — Duty to keep records relating to annual leave
3. Acas — Employment Rights Act 2025 (updated 20 October 2026)

A summary for employers, not legal advice. Where a change depends on regulations not yet made, details may differ from this page.