---
title: Cover carers in three easy steps
description: It is important to have plans in place for cover when your employees take annual leave, as all staff are entitled to paid time off for holidays
image: https://www.dhdirectpayments.co.uk/hubfs/dh%20may%20news%20roundup%20(5).png
---
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# Cover carers in three easy steps
by [admin](https://www.dhdirectpayments.co.uk/direct-payments-blog/author/admin)
Jun 4, 2026, 4:05:00 PM
It is important to have plans in place for cover when your employees take annual leave, as all staff are entitled to paid time off for holidays (5.6weeks per year including bank holidays).
To make sure you have sufficient cover during your employees’ holiday, have you considered employing a cover care, or do you have an agency you can call on?
Below is a quick three step plan to make sure you have the right resources in place, so you are never without the cover you require.
## **Step One – Who will cover?**
It is a good idea to plan ahead, is there an agency that you use for such occasions, if so how much notice will you need to give them?
If you have several carers you may be able to arrange cover within your existing team, but this should be confirmed in advance to make sure you are not left short. Alternatively many people employ casual / cover workers on their payroll, to step in when their employees are on holiday. It is therefore important that we make sure these carers are paid correctly and are registered on your payroll.
## **Step Two – Completing the Paperwork**
Cover carers that are not already on the payroll will need to complete a new starter form which you will need to send to the payroll team before they can be paid. New starter forms are available on the website: [https://dhdirectpayments.co.uk/online-form/](https://dhdirectpayments.co.uk/online-form/)
If you are using an agency for cover they may have paperwork for you to complete in advance.
You may also need to notify your funding body, to make sure you have the budget in place in advance of the employees leave.
## **Step Three – Notifying payroll**
In the months that holiday is taken, it is important that you let the payroll team know who is covering the hours. It may be that the hours are split over several different employees, so you will need to be clear the number of hours to be paid for each employee and the rate of pay due for the hours worked.
Whilst annual leave does not have to be narrated on payslips, it can be good practice to do so. You will need to keep track of holiday taken by your employees to make sure they do not overtake or undertake their entitlement. We have an excel spread sheet that can assist you with this – please emails us for more information, [payroll@davidhoward.co.uk](mailto:payroll@davidhoward.co.uk)
Please make sure that you notify payroll of changes in line with our deadlines, which are available on our website and included on the monthly Newslink email.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the payroll team for assistance:
Email [payroll@davidhoward.co.uk](mailto:payroll@davidhoward.co.uk) or Livechat [https://dhdirectpayments.co.uk/](https://dhdirectpayments.co.uk/)
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Post by [admin](https://www.dhdirectpayments.co.uk/direct-payments-blog/author/admin)
Jun 4, 2026, 4:05:00 PM
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