The Holiday Records Rule the Government Forgot to Tell You About

From 6 April 2026, every UK employer must keep holiday records for six years. Not three. Not one year. Six.

If you have not started a six-year holiday record log, you have five days.

This is not a minor administrative change. Failure to maintain the required records is a criminal offence under the Working Time Regulations 1998, as amended. Unlimited fines apply. And this rule has one more twist: the government effectively forgot to tell you.

PersonnelToday — one of the UK's leading HR publications — ran a correction piece this morning (1 April 2026) noting that "this had previously not been communicated by government." If the specialist HR press had to issue a correction, the chance that your average SMB knew about this is close to zero.

The Fair Work Agency launches tomorrow — 7 April — with the power to inspect holiday records on day one.

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What Changed on 6 April 2026

The Employment Rights Act 2025 amended the record-keeping requirements under the Working Time Regulations. The key change:

Before 6 April 2026:

• Employers were required to maintain adequate holiday and working time records, but the retention period was broadly interpreted as "adequate" — often meaning one to three years

From 6 April 2026:

• Employers must retain records of all workers' annual leave entitlement, holiday taken, holiday pay received, and carry-over arrangements for a minimum of six years
• Records must be available for inspection on demand by an authorised enforcement officer
• Failure to produce records constitutes an offence under the Working Time Regulations 1998

This applies to all employers, regardless of size, sector, or number of employees.

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Why Six Years?

The six-year retention period aligns with the Limitation Act 1980, which sets the standard time limit for civil contract claims. An employee can bring a holiday pay claim for any shortfall within six years of the underpayment — so records must cover the same window.

The practical implication: an inspector from the Fair Work Agency visiting your premises in 2030 could legally request records going back to April 2026. If you cannot produce them, you are in breach.

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The Government Communication Failure

PersonnelToday's correction piece this morning is significant. It stated explicitly that the six-year records requirement had "not been adequately communicated by government channels." The guidance pages on GOV.UK were updated recently, but the change was buried in wider Working Time Regulations amendments and received none of the public-facing communication that accompanied NLW changes or the SSP day-one rule.

The result: thousands of employers are approaching 6 April 2026 unaware that this obligation exists.

This is exactly what ComplianceAlert was built to prevent. Our monitoring system flagged this change when the legislation was passed — not when PersonnelToday ran its correction two working days before enforcement begins.

💡 Want to know what else changes this week that you might have missed? Take our free Compliance Score quiz — 20 questions, instant results.

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What Records Do You Need to Keep?

Under the amended requirements, your holiday records must cover:

For each worker:

• Annual leave entitlement (statutory + any contractual enhancement)
• Dates of all annual leave taken in each leave year
• Holiday pay paid, including the calculation basis
• Any carry-over of untaken leave (and the reason — e.g., sickness, parental leave)
• Any leave year start/end dates if different from the statutory default

Format: Records can be digital or paper, but must be readily accessible and legible. Payroll system exports, HR software records, or spreadsheets all qualify — provided they contain the required data fields.

Retention: Six years from the date the record was created, or six years from the end of employment if the worker has left.

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The Fair Work Agency Enforcement Risk

The Fair Work Agency launches on 7 April 2026. It replaces three separate enforcement bodies:

• HMRC's National Minimum Wage enforcement team
• The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA)
• The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate

A single FWA inspector now has authority to check wages, sick pay, holiday pay, and employment records in one visit. The records obligation is squarely within their remit.

The FWA has signalled that its initial enforcement focus will be on hospitality, retail, social care, and construction — the sectors with the highest proportions of minimum-wage, zero-hours, and seasonal workers. These are also the sectors where holiday records are most likely to be incomplete.

What happens if you cannot produce records?

Under the Working Time Regulations, failure to comply with a record-keeping obligation is a criminal offence. Penalties include:

• Unlimited fine on conviction (magistrates' court or crown court)
• Improvement notice from the FWA requiring records to be produced within a set period
• Enforcement notice with a compliance deadline
• The existence of missing records can be used as evidence in a civil holiday pay claim

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Sectors at Highest Risk

Hospitality

High turnover, seasonal workers, zero-hours contracts, bank holiday complications — holiday records in hospitality are notoriously patchy. Many pub and restaurant groups rely on rota systems that do not automatically log holiday taken.

Retail

Variable-hours workers, part-time staff, and workers whose holiday entitlement changes mid-year create complexity. Retailers often calculate holiday pay at weekly pay review rather than per-day-taken.

Construction

Self-employed and labour-only subcontractors complicate the picture. If any of your workers are actually "workers" (not genuinely self-employed), you may have undisclosed holiday pay obligations — and no records.

Social Care

Sleep-in shifts, irregular hours, and agency staff make holiday calculation complex. Many care providers are already under FWA scrutiny for NMW compliance — incomplete holiday records compound that risk.

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What to Do Before 6 April

You have five days. Here is the minimum viable response:

Day 1 (today):

• Assign ownership. One person is responsible for holiday records compliance.
• Pull existing records: what do you have and for how long?
• Identify the gaps.

Days 2–3:

• Set up a six-year record-keeping system. Spreadsheet, HR software, or payroll system — it needs to capture entitlement, taken, paid, and carry-over for every worker.
• Reconstruct records where possible for the current leave year.
• Note: you cannot recreate historical records you never kept. Focus on accurate records from 6 April forward.

Days 4–5:

• Brief your payroll, HR, or line managers on the requirement.
• Confirm that your system will auto-log holidays taken and generate a six-year record.
• Document that you completed this review (the documentation itself is a defence).

On 6 April:

• Your record-keeping system goes live.
• Any worker who takes leave from this date must have a complete record created.

💡 ComplianceAlert tracks Working Time Regulations changes and alerts you before enforcement begins. If you want to stop finding out about legal changes from correction articles, try it free for 7 days →

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does this apply to self-employed contractors? If they are genuinely self-employed with no worker status, no. But if they are "workers" under employment law (as defined by the Employment Rights Act 1996), yes. Given that the FWA specifically looks for misclassified workers, this is a risk area for construction and gig-sector employers.

Does it apply to zero-hours workers? Yes. All workers with worker status — including those on zero-hours contracts — have statutory annual leave rights. Their holiday records must be kept for six years.

What if our HR software only retains three years? This is a common issue. Check your settings or speak to your provider. Most modern HR and payroll systems allow you to set custom retention periods. If yours does not, export records annually to a separate archive.

Do we need to backfill records before April 6? You cannot be penalised for not keeping records before the new requirement took effect. But any records you do hold from previous years should be retained. Focus your energy on getting a clean system in place from 6 April.

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The Bottom Line

• From 6 April 2026, holiday records must be kept for six years
• The government did not adequately communicate this — PersonnelToday confirmed it this morning
• The Fair Work Agency launches 7 April and has full authority to inspect these records
• Failure to maintain records is a criminal offence with unlimited fines
• You have five days to put a system in place

Not sure what other changes hit your business this week? Take our free Compliance Score quiz — 20 questions, instant results, no sign-up.

Most employers who get caught out by this will be acting in good faith. The fine is the same either way.

Start your free 7-day trial → — ComplianceAlert monitors Working Time Regulations and every other employment law change affecting your sector.

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