Holiday Entitlement Shouldn’t Require a Spreadsheet
Every UK employer must provide holiday entitlement, and for security companies with variable-hours staff, calculating it correctly is genuinely difficult. Guards work different hours each week. Some are full-time on one site, others split across three. The statutory minimum is 12.07% of hours worked — try tracking that manually across 15 guards.
TacDesk now calculates holiday accrual automatically, in real time, based on actual hours worked.
How It Works
When you enable Statutory Accrual mode in TacDesk’s holiday settings, the system:
- Tracks every hour worked — using clock-in data, not scheduled hours, so the calculation reflects reality
- Applies the 12.07% rate — the UK statutory minimum for irregular-hours workers, calculated automatically
- Updates daily — accrued hours are recalculated each day based on the latest clock-in data
- Shows the balance — guards see their accrued hours, used hours, and remaining balance when they request time off
Two Modes to Suit Your Business
TacDesk offers two holiday management modes:
Fixed Allocation (Traditional)
Set a fixed number of holiday days per guard per year. Simple, works well for full-time guards with consistent schedules. This is the mode most companies start with.
Statutory Accrual (New)
Holiday entitlement is calculated at 12.07% of hours worked. Ideal for:
- Guards on variable-hours contracts
- Part-time or casual staff
- Companies wanting to ensure exact statutory compliance
- Businesses scaling up where hours vary significantly between guards
Switch between modes at any time. When you switch to accrual mode, TacDesk calculates the opening balance from existing clock-in history.
What Guards See
Guards can view their holiday balance directly in the app:
- Accrued hours — total holiday hours earned so far this year
- Used hours — hours already taken as holiday
- Remaining balance — what’s left to use
When submitting a holiday request, the guard can see whether they have sufficient balance. This reduces back-and-forth with managers and sets clear expectations.
Manager Controls
Managers can:
- View accrual balances for all guards in one place
- Make manual adjustments with a reason (e.g., contractual bonus days)
- See warnings if a manual adjustment would take a guard below the statutory minimum
- Approve or decline holiday requests with the balance visible at decision time
Why This Matters
Getting holiday entitlement wrong has real consequences. Underpaying holiday is an employment law breach — HMRC can investigate, and tribunals regularly award compensation. Overpaying costs money unnecessarily. For security companies with a mix of full-time and variable-hours guards, the calculation is complex enough that spreadsheet errors are common.
TacDesk removes the guesswork. The system calculates, the guard sees their balance, and the manager approves with confidence.
Holiday Accrual is available on all TacDesk plans. Try the demo to see accrual balances in action, or book a walkthrough.