Hours & Conditions
How holiday pay is calculated when your hours vary
Averaging over a reference period is the usual method, and the choice of period decides the amount.
Hours & Conditions
Overtime, shifts, contracts and the value of time nobody prices.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Hours & Conditions
Overtime, unsocial hours and the pay that is not really extra
Premium rates compensate for a real cost. Whether they compensate enough is a calculation people rarely do.
More in Hours & Conditions
Hours & Conditions
The unpaid minutes at each end of a shift
Handover, changing, security checks and system logins are work in most people's understanding and not always in the payroll…
Hours & Conditions
On-call, standby and being paid for time you cannot use
Time spent available for work is not free time, and how it is paid varies more than almost any other arrangement.
Hours & Conditions
Annualised hours, and why your pay stops tracking your work
Averaging hours across a year makes pay predictable and hides whether the hours balance out at all.
Hours & Conditions
Rota notice, and the price of not knowing when you work
Unpredictable scheduling has costs that never appear as pay, and some jurisdictions have started regulating it.
Hours & Conditions
Shift swaps, cover and the informal economy of a rota
Most rotas run partly on arrangements between workers, which is efficient until something goes wrong.
Hours & Conditions
Compressed hours, reduced hours and what each does to pay
Working the same hours in fewer days and working fewer hours are entirely different arrangements with different consequences.
Hours & Conditions
Travel time between jobs, sites and clients
Whether time on the road is paid depends on what kind of journey it is, and the distinction is finer than it looks.
Hours & Conditions
Sleep-ins, night shifts and the hours paid at a different rate
Overnight work has been one of the most contested areas of pay, and the answers differ sharply between countries.
Hours & Conditions
Where minutes disappear in a time and attendance system
Clocking systems encode rules about rounding, grace periods and breaks that almost nobody reads.
Hours & Conditions
The four-day week and what happens to the pay
The arrangements sold under the same name differ fundamentally in whether pay and hours are reduced.