Statutory Holiday Entitlement in the UK

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, most UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave per leave year. For someone working five days a week, that is 28 days of paid holiday. Employers can count the eight usual UK bank holidays within that 28-day minimum, so a typical full-time allowance is 20 days plus bank holidays.

The entitlement applies to employees and most workers, including agency and casual staff, from their first day of employment. Employers may offer more than the statutory minimum — anything extra is contractual rather than statutory, and its rules are set by the employment contract.

For staff who work regular hours, the calculation is straightforward.

Our holiday entitlement calculator and annual leave calculator do this maths for you, including mid-year starters and leavers.

Part-time workers get the same 5.6 weeks, scaled to their working pattern — they must not be treated less favourably than full-time colleagues under the Part-Time Workers Regulations 2000. Multiply their weekly days by 5.6.

Fractions like 16.8 days are normal. Many employers round up to the nearest half day for simplicity — rounding down below the statutory minimum is not allowed. For staff with variable weekly patterns, our pro-rata calculator helps work out a fair figure in hours.

For leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, workers with irregular hours or part-year patterns (such as term-time staff, zero-hours, casual, or agency staff) accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work each pay period. The 12.07% figure comes from 5.6 weeks divided by the remaining 46.4 working weeks of the year.

For example, a casual worker who logs 60 hours in a month accrues 60 × 12.07% = 7.24 hours of paid holiday that month. Keep a running total of accrued hours and pay them at the worker's normal rate when leave is taken. This accrual method keeps holiday entitlement proportional to actual work done.

For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, employers may use rolled-up holiday pay for irregular-hours and part-year workers only. This means paying an extra 12.07% on top of normal pay each pay period, instead of paying holiday when leave is taken.

If you use rolled-up holiday pay, you must:

• Show it as a separate line on the payslip.
• Calculate it on total pay (including overtime and commission where relevant).
• Still allow the worker to take their leave unpaid.

For the full comparison, use our holiday entitlement calculator to see the difference between accrual and rolled-up pay.

There is no automatic legal right to paid time off on bank holidays. What matters is the 5.6-week statutory minimum. An employer can:

• Include the eight usual bank holidays within the 28-day minimum, leaving 20 days of flexible leave.
• Offer bank holidays on top, giving 28 days plus bank holidays as a contractual benefit.

Part-time staff who do not normally work Mondays should not lose out because most bank holidays fall on Mondays. Give them a pro-rata bank holiday allowance instead. Whatever approach you choose, write it into the contract so payslips, rotas and leave records all agree.

Part-time staff who do not normally work Mondays should not lose out because most bank holidays fall on Mondays. Give them a pro-rata bank holiday allowance instead.

Statutory holiday is generally meant to be taken in the leave year it accrues, but there are important exceptions:

• Workers unable to take leave due to sickness can carry over up to 4 weeks (the basic EU-derived entitlement) for up to 18 months.
• Those on maternity, adoption or other family-related leave can carry over the full 5.6 weeks into the next leave year.
• If an employer fails to let a worker take leave, carry-over may also apply.

Beyond these cases, carry-over is a contractual matter. Whatever your policy, apply it consistently and remind staff of upcoming deadlines, because a silent use-it-or-lose-it rule can create disputes.

A week's holiday pay should reflect what the worker would normally have earned. Following case law and GOV.UK guidance, for the first 4 weeks of statutory leave this includes regular overtime, commission and certain allowances — not just basic salary. The remaining 1.6 weeks can be paid at the basic rate, though many employers pay everything at the normal rate to keep payroll simple.

For staff with variable pay, a week's pay is usually averaged over the previous 52 paid weeks, ignoring any weeks with no pay. Getting holiday pay wrong can lead to back-pay claims, so build the average-pay check into your payroll process each time leave is taken.

Holiday entitlement applies to workers, not only employees. Before calculating days or hours, confirm whether the person is an employee, a limb-b worker, an agency worker, an irregular-hours worker, a part-year worker or genuinely self-employed. The calculation method and holiday-pay reference period can change depending on that status. If status is uncertain, resolve it before relying on a rounded holiday figure.

Holiday entitlement answers how much leave someone gets; holiday pay answers what that leave is worth. Regular overtime, commission and allowances may need to be reflected in holiday pay, commonly using a 52-week paid-weeks reference period. For example, a worker with basic weekly pay of £500 and regular commission averaging £80 a week should not normally have holiday pay calculated on basic pay alone. The correct approach is to identify normal remuneration, exclude unpaid weeks where required, and keep a clear audit trail.

When someone starts or leaves part-way through a leave year, calculate entitlement for the portion of the leave year worked. If hours or days change mid-year, split the year into periods and calculate each pattern separately rather than averaging everything into one figure. This prevents underpayment for workers who move from part-time to full-time or vice versa during the year.