Bank holiday and Christmas Day pay for carers on PrimeCarers

The clause reads: "Bank holidays will be charged at one and a half times the carer's normal rate, and Christmas day will be charged at 2 times the carer's normal rate." You can read it in the client and carer contract, and the rest of the pay guides are in carer resources. New Year's Day is a bank holiday like any other under it, so it is one and a half times, not twice. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are not bank holidays, so they are your normal rate. The contract says nothing about weekends or evenings, so a Saturday or a late call is charged at your normal rate.

Our commission comes out of the uplifted figure in the same way it comes out of your normal rate: 20% on hourly visits of less than six hours and 15% on a single visit of six hours or more. So the extra reaches you in the same proportion as the rest of your rate. What carers earn on PrimeCarers sets out the commission in full.

Because the uplift is in the contract, the family has agreed to it before the day comes. What families are told is on the weekend, evening and bank holiday rates page, and it gives them the same multipliers you are working to. Mentioning it when you agree the visits still saves a surprised message when the invoice arrives.

When a bank holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, gov.uk says a substitute weekday becomes a bank holiday instead, normally the following Monday. That is why the gov.uk bank holidays page lists Monday 28 December 2026 as the Boxing Day bank holiday. The contract uses the words "bank holidays" and "Christmas day" without saying whether it means the calendar date or the substitute day, so the rows marked "Agree it" are left without a price.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have different bank holidays. Scotland has 2 January and St Andrew's Day and no Easter Monday, and Northern Ireland has St Patrick's Day and 12 July. The contract does not say which calendar it follows, so if you work outside England and Wales, agree with the client which days count.

The contract says any communication under it is to be in writing, by email, WhatsApp or the messaging on the PrimeCarers platform, and that variations are confirmed in writing. A message through the platform, sent when you agree the Christmas visits and answered by the client, gives you both the same version to point to in January. Put the dates, the times and the rate for each day in one message.

For live-in work the question comes up whenever a placement runs over a bank holiday, not only at Christmas. What to agree before a live-in placement has a checklist for the first conversation, and live-in carer pay, from your side covers the weekly rate itself.

The time-off and rate rules come from the carer terms of service, and the rest from the contract. Notice under the contract is 48 hours for hourly care, and seven days for live-in care once 168 hours have been worked (48 hours before that). It applies to ending the arrangement, but it is a sensible guide for holiday changes too, and a family arranging cover for Christmas needs far more than two days. Holiday pay, sick pay and pensions when self-employed covers planning time off you are not paid for.

An employed care worker is in a different position. Gov.uk says bank holidays do not have to be given as paid leave, and an employer can count them as part of the 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday. Self-employed, you have no paid leave, but the uplift is written into every contract you sign.

If you are not yet working through PrimeCarers, you can register as a carer on PrimeCarers and set your own rate, and the uplift applies to whatever rate you set. To see what is being advertised first, see the carer jobs open near you.

1. 1

   Agree the holiday dates in writing

   October or November

   Which days you are working, the times, and the rate for each day, including any weekend date the contract does not settle.
2. 2

   Check each holiday booking

   Before the billing day

   Look at the visit on your schedule and make sure the rate on it matches what you agreed. The invoice is built from the booking as it stands on your client’s billing day.
3. 3

   Correct anything that is wrong with the client

   As soon as you notice

   If a booking is wrong, agree the correction with the client and update the booking. The contract leaves disagreements about charges to the two of you.
4. 4

   Raise it with PrimeCarers if you cannot agree

   Within 10 working days

   The carer terms say an issue must be raised within 10 working days of the incident. Payments may be held while the two of you clarify a dispute.

When the money arrives follows your client's billing, so there is no single payday, and a bank holiday week can move the date. How carers get paid on PrimeCarers explains the route, and your Payments page shows the expected date for each client.