Hiring Christmas temp staff and other seasonal staff
Hiring seasonal staff for Christmas is still employment. Check the right to work before they start, give them a contract that says the job is seasonal, and put them on the rota under their own names. Holiday still accrues. The minimum wage still depends on age. A temporary contract does not remove those duties, and this page does not invent visa categories.
Seasonal staff are people who work for you for a busy period and then stop. Christmas is the usual rush in shops, cafes and warehouses. The law does not have a lighter set of rules because you called them temps. Right to work, a contract, holiday, rest and the minimum wage all still apply. This page says what to do before they appear on the week. It does not list visa types, because those rules change and the official check is the place to read them.
Check the right to work first
Before employment starts, check the person has the right to work in the UK. The service and the documents it accepts are on GOV.UK, checking a job applicant's right to work. Follow that page. Do not employ someone who does not have the right, and do not accept a photocopy someone messages you if the official check asks for something else. A student who can work limited hours in term time is a case for that page, not a number this guide will guess.
Do the check for every new starter, including someone returning from last Christmas if they are a new engagement. Keep the record the GOV.UK page tells you to keep. Shiftbrook does not store right-to-work documents.
The contract and the rota
Say in the contract that the work is seasonal, when you expect it to end, and whether hours are guaranteed. "As and when" is a zero-hours arrangement, with the rules on Zero-hours contracts. A promise of four shifts a week, every week of December, is not zero hours just because you used the word temp. Write the arrangement you will actually honour.
Put each person on the rota under their own name. Do not leave a month of "temp" as a permanent open shift. An open shift is a gap you have not filled yet, which is explained in Open shifts. Once someone is hired, the shift has their name. The week they join should follow the same fairness rules as everyone else, in How to plan a Christmas rota and How to make a rota.
A retail floor and a hospitality close are different jobs. The sector pages are Retail teams and Hospitality teams. Neither one is a script for a particular store.
Holiday accrual
Temps build holiday. How it accrues depends on the hours, not on the word seasonal.
If the hours are irregular, or the work is part-year, and the leave year began on or after 1 April 2024, holiday can accrue at 12.07% of the hours worked. That is 5.6 divided by 46.4, and the year is still capped at 5.6 weeks. The full distinction, including when rolled-up holiday pay is allowed, is on Holiday pay for zero-hours staff. The short definition is Holiday accrual.
If they work a regular pattern for the contract, even a short one, that is part-time holiday: 5.6 weeks of their own week, not an automatic 12.07% on top. The part-time holiday calculator does the 5.6 sum from days you type. Rolled-up holiday pay is not for a regular part-time week.
Paying the uplift does not remove the right to take the leave. If the contract ends at New Year and holiday is still owed, that is a payment when they leave, worked out on the GOV.UK method, not a figure this page will invent. The holiday entitlement calculator is an estimate from numbers you type.
Minimum wage and rest
The rate is the rate for their age. From 1 April 2026 the statutory rates, including the lower rates for workers aged 18 to 20, workers under 18, and apprentices in the first year, are listed on the minimum wage guide and on GOV.UK, national minimum wage rates. A Christmas temp does not get a special statutory rate, and a lower cash rate "because it is temporary" is not a thing. Tips paid directly by the customer do not count towards the rate.
Rest applies to the hours they actually work. An adult over six hours gets one 20-minute break. Eleven hours sit between working days. The rest break calculator is one shift. The source is GOV.UK, rest breaks at work.
A checklist before the first shift
- The right-to-work check is done, using the GOV.UK route, before they start.
- The contract says the work is seasonal, the expected end, and whether hours are guaranteed.
- Holiday is described as 12.07% only where the irregular-hours or part-year rules allow it.
- The wage is at least the rate for their age. You are not relying on tips to make the rate.
- They have a name on the published rota, not a standing label of "temp".
- Breaks and the gap to the next shift have been looked at, including under-18 limits if they apply.
- You know the date the contract ends, and what happens to holiday not taken.
What this means for your rota
Add the person, publish the shifts you mean, and do not leave them as an unnamed gap once they have accepted. The first organisation is free for up to 5 staff. The paid plan is £3 per active person per month, with a £15 minimum. You can use the paid plan for 14 days before the first payment, and that period does not ask for a card. Active seasonal staff count towards that limit. Shiftbrook does not check a visa, store a right-to-work document, or calculate holiday pay. Sending approved hours to Xero Payroll UK is not available until that connection works end to end.
Questions
When do you check the right to work?
Before the person starts. Use the check on GOV.UK. Do not employ someone who does not have the right to work, and do not take this page as a list of visas.
Do Christmas temps build holiday?
Yes. Irregular hours in a leave year from 1 April 2024 can accrue at 12.07% of hours worked, capped at 5.6 weeks. A regular pattern for the season may be ordinary part-time holiday instead. Rolled-up holiday pay is not available for a regular part-time week.
Which minimum wage applies?
The rate for their age, including the lower rates under 21, under 18, and for apprentices in the first year of their apprenticeship. The figures from 1 April 2026 are on the minimum wage guide. A seasonal contract does not pick a different statutory rate.
Do temps count on the free plan?
Active people count, including someone you invited for the season. Client approvers do not. The price and the free limit come from the same price book as the rest of the site.
Sources
GOV.UK, checking a job applicant's right to work, GOV.UK, national minimum wage rates and GOV.UK, holiday entitlement. Checked on 22 October 2026.
Related
The first organisation is free for up to 5 staff. The paid plan is £3 per active person per month, with a £15 minimum. You can use the paid plan for 14 days before the first payment, and that period does not ask for a card. Agencies use the same paid price. Client approvers are free and do not count.
Start free Log inGeneral guidance for UK employers, not legal advice.