December is the most demanding month in the salon diary. It's when the column is full, the team is under pressure, and everyone wants time off at Christmas. Handling these requests while staying on the right side of employment law requires planning before the December rush begins. You need to know the rules on notice for closures, how to handle commission in holiday pay, and how part-timers fit into the bank holiday schedule. Getting it right now prevents disputes later.

Closing between Christmas and New Year

You can tell your staff to use their paid holiday for dates the salon closes, provided you give enough notice. The law says your notice must be at least twice as long as the leave you're asking the team to take.

A salon closing on Tuesday 29, Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 December 2026 is asking staff to take 3 days of holiday. This requires at least 6 days' notice before 29 December. Telling the team in November covers this requirement with weeks to spare.

These rules apply to employees and workers, but a genuine chair renter is self-employed and manages their own schedule. They aren't subject to your holiday notice periods.

This year's bank holidays

The 2026 festive period has several bank holidays that affect your staff rotas. In England and Wales, Christmas Day is Friday 25 December. Because Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, the official substitute bank holiday is Monday 28 December. New Year's Day is Friday 1 January 2027. Scotland follows the same pattern but includes an extra bank holiday on Monday 4 January as the substitute for 2 January.

You don't have to give bank holidays as paid leave on top of the statutory minimum. You can count them as part of the 5.6 weeks of paid holiday each worker is entitled to receive. Being clear about whether bank holidays are included in their allowance avoids misunderstandings when staff try to book their remaining days at the end of the year.

The 5.6 weeks and part-time staff

Most workers who work a 5-day week are entitled to at least 28 days of paid annual leave each year. This is 5.6 weeks. Even if a staff member works 6 days a week, their statutory entitlement is still capped at 28 days. For your part-time team on regular hours, this entitlement is worked out pro rata based on the number of days they work.

A staff member working 3 days a week gets at least 16.8 days of paid holiday a year. This is the result of multiplying 3 days by the 5.6-week entitlement.

Staff on irregular hours

The rules for staff on irregular hours changed for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024. An irregular-hours worker is someone whose hours in each pay period are mostly variable under their contract, such as those on casual or zero-hours agreements. These staff members now build up holiday at a rate of 12.07% of the hours they actually work in each pay period.

For these workers, you can use rolled-up holiday pay. This means you pay an extra 12.07% on top of their total pay for the period instead of paying them during their time off. You must tell the worker if you're using this method, and the holiday pay must be shown as a separate line on their payslip. This method is only for irregular-hours or part-year workers; you can't use it for staff on regular hours.

Holiday pay and commission

The law requires holiday pay to reflect a worker's normal pay, which includes commission and regular overtime. This is calculated using their average pay over the last 52 weeks they were paid. For staff on regular hours, at least 4 weeks of their statutory leave must be paid at this normal rate.

Suppose a stylist earns an average of £520 a week, made up of £400 basic salary and £120 commission. When they take a week of holiday, they should receive £520 for that week. If you pay them only their basic salary of £400, you're short-changing them by £120. Over 4 weeks of leave, this comes to £480 in unpaid wages. For irregular-hours workers, all leave is paid at the normal rate.

Who gets time off in December

Deciding who gets time off in the busiest month can lead to friction if the process isn't transparent. You can't refuse to let a worker take their leave at all, but you have the right to refuse leave at a certain time. Setting clear boundaries early prevents last-minute requests that would leave you understaffed.

  • First-come, first-served. This is simple, but it can disadvantage staff with children or long travel commitments.
  • Rotating priority. If a stylist had Christmas Eve off last year, they work it this year so another person gets the break.
  • Service requirements. You can set a limit of two senior stylists off on any day in late December.

Clear rules stop the loudest voices from taking all the prime dates. Applying your policy consistently to everyone avoids claims of favouritism.

Setting it up in your salon system

Luminate's leave management tool handles these different allowances and requests. You can set a default leave allowance for the team, such as 28 days, and define when your leave year begins. Each staff member can have an individual allowance tailored to their hours, which simplifies the process for part-timers.

Days listed as public holidays in Luminate never come out of a staff member's allowance. If your bank holidays are listed there, set the allowance to exclude them, for example 20 days plus the bank holidays for a 5-day week, or the team gets that time twice.

When a stylist submits a request through the system, you can see any appointments already booked on those dates before you approve the request. This gives you the chance to move clients or talk to the stylist about their coverage. Once you approve the leave, those dates are blocked out, so clients can't book with that stylist through your online booking page.

What to do this week

Review your team's remaining leave allowances this week. If you plan to close after Christmas, give the official notice to the team in writing now. This isn't legal advice. You can find the full official rules and detailed support on the gov.uk website or by contacting Acas for specific employment questions.