Home / The Rix & Kay Blog / How does a leap year affect my staff?
Jenny Reardon

Head of GatekeeperHR - East Sussex (Uckfield)

28th February 2020

As we all know, 2020 is a leap year, meaning it has one extra day (the Leap Day). What we’re not all so sure about is whether this means UK workers will be entitled to an extra day’s pay.

From a legal point of view, an extra day’s work doesn’t necessarily mean more money. It all comes down to how a worker is paid.

Salaried Staff

Generally, a salaried worker won’t be entitled to extra pay despite potentially working an extra day in a Leap Year because their salary is fixed against a year and not a specific number of days per year.

That said, if a salaried worker is earning close to the National Minimum Wage (NMW)* an employer should check that an additional day of work does not send them below the NMW when their earnings are averaged against days worked.

Employers should check that any low paid workers’ salaries are high enough to account for an additional day of work so as to avoid facing big fines for breach of the NMW Regulations.

Hourly Paid Staff

Employees paid on an hourly basis for the hours they actually work should of course receive an extra day’s pay if they work the Leap Day (Saturday, 29 February 2020).

Equally, if they don’t work the extra day, they’ll have no entitlement to extra pay.

*Please visit https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates for NMW rates

Next steps

If you’re concerned about how the Leap Day might affect your workers’ earnings, seek advice from your Payroll Department or your Accountant to ensure you are complying with the NMW Regulations when calculating staff earnings for 2020.

Contact us

The GatekeeperHR team is here to help. GatekeeperHR is a fixed cost, employment law and HR retainer service which provides businesses with access to a dedicated team of experienced lawyers and HR professionals who you can speak to, or meet face-to-face, at any time. The service includes a full HR compliance audit, access to an online portal full of valuable employment law and HR resources and an annual training session on topics of your choosing.

If you need HR support or advice or wish to discuss how GatekeeperHR can ensure that your employment documentation is legally compliant, contact Jenny Reardon, a member of our GatekeeperHR team, on e. JennyReardon@rixandkay.co.uk or visit the GatekeeperHR website for more information on how we can help you.

If you need Employment Law advice to discuss how these situations could affect your business, contact Elaine Abbs, a solicitor with our Employment team for more information on how legislative changes could affect your business.