Calculate statutory holiday entitlement for full-time, part-time and irregular hours workers. UK minimum is 5.6 weeks (28 days).
Source: GOV.UK — Holiday entitlement
By Konstantin Iakovlev · Founder, Calks.uk
Last updated: · Verified against HMRC and GOV.UK 2026/27 rates
Rates verified: 28 September 2026
Annual Holiday Entitlement
28.0 days
210.0 hours · 5.6 weeks
UK Statutory Minimum:
All workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday per year, capped at 28 days.
For a 5-day week, the full-year figure is 28.0 days (max 28 days).
This includes bank holidays. Employers can require you to use holiday for bank holidays.
Disclaimer
This calculator is for guidance only. It is not financial or tax advice: check anything you rely on against the official source or a qualified adviser. Rates and figures come from HMRC and GOV.UK and are reviewed for the 2026/27 tax year. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to our servers.
How It Works
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, all UK workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave per year. For full-time workers (5 days/week), this equals 28 days. Employers may include the 8 bank holidays in England and Wales within this entitlement or grant them on top, so a contract offering 20 days plus bank holidays meets the statutory minimum exactly. The statutory entitlement cannot be swapped for cash except when employment ends, when any untaken days are paid through the final payslip, or as rolled-up holiday pay for irregular-hours and part-year workers.
Part-time workers receive a pro-rata entitlement. For example, someone working 3 days per week is entitled to 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days per year, and anyone working 4 days, even full-time hours, gets 22.4 days. Workers with irregular hours or on zero-hours contracts accrue 12.07% of the hours they actually work, so 37.5 hours a week across 46.4 weeks builds up about 210 hours. For mid-year starters on a regular pattern, the calculator pro-rates by the months of the leave year left, so someone on 3 days a week who joins with 9 months left gets 12.6 days, rounded up to 13.
Most employers run a fixed holiday year, such as 1 January to 31 December or 1 April to 31 March, and you accrue one twelfth of your annual entitlement each month. New starters can take holiday from day one, though being paid for leave before it has accrued is uncommon. A bank holiday that falls on a day you do not normally work still counts towards your accrual. If you fall ill while on holiday, you can ask to convert those days to sick leave and take the holiday later, subject to providing evidence.
Carry-over rules split the entitlement in two. The 4 weeks (20 days) derived from EU law cannot be carried into the next year unless sickness, maternity or other family leave prevented you from taking them, or, since 1 January 2024, your employer did not give you a reasonable chance to take them. Otherwise they are lost without payment. The extra 1.6 weeks (8 days) of UK top-up can be carried over by agreement, and many contracts allow some carry-over. Sickness carry-over has a time limit: up to 4 weeks can be carried forward, but must be used within 18 months of the end of the leave year it was built up in.
Holiday pay must reflect normal pay, including regular overtime, commission and contractual bonuses, following the Williams v British Airways (2011), Bear Scotland (2014), Lock (2016) and Dudley MBC v Willetts (2017) cases. The reference period for averaging variable pay is 52 weeks, up from 12 weeks before April 2020. For zero-hours and other irregular workers, holiday pay equals 12.07% of the pay earned, and since April 2024 employers may pay it as rolled-up holiday pay added to each pay packet and shown separately on the payslip. Leaving overtime or commission out of holiday pay is a common breach, and claims can be backdated 2 years.
Example: Part-time, 3 days/week, started 1 July (April to March leave year)
- Full-year entitlement: 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days
- Months of the leave year remaining: July to March = 9, so 9/12 = 0.75
- Pro-rata entitlement: 16.8 × 0.75 = 12.6 days
- Rounded up to the nearest half day: 13 days for the remainder of the leave year
Source: GOV.UK — Holiday entitlement
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much holiday am I entitled to in the UK?
- The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks a year, which is 28 days for someone working 5 days a week and can include the 8 bank holidays. Part-time staff get a pro-rata share, so a 4-day worker receives 22.4 days, and irregular-hours workers accrue 12.07% of the hours they work. Many employers offer 25-30 days plus bank holidays, giving 33-38 days in total, and the public sector typically gives 26-30 plus bank holidays, or 34-38 days. Holiday accrues from your first day.
- How is holiday pay worked out for irregular-hours workers?
- Workers without fixed hours, such as zero-hours, casual, agency and term-time-only staff, have holiday pay based on a 52-week average of their earnings. Since April 2024 employers can instead use rolled-up holiday pay, adding 12.07% to each pay packet and showing it separately on the payslip. The weekly equivalent is found by multiplying gross weekly pay by 5.6 and dividing by 46.4. Tax and NI are deducted from holiday pay in the same way as from normal earnings.
- Can I carry unused holiday over to the next year?
- The first 4 weeks (20 days) of the 5.6-week entitlement cannot be carried over unless sickness, maternity or other family leave stopped you taking them, or your employer did not give you a reasonable chance to take them. Holiday carried over because of sickness must be used within 18 months of the end of the leave year it came from. The additional 1.6 weeks (8 days) can be carried for one year by agreement, and your contract may allow more. Untaken holiday at the end of employment is paid through the final payslip, and if an employee dies it passes to their estate. During employment holiday cannot be bought out, except as rolled-up holiday pay for irregular-hours and part-year workers.
- Are bank holidays included in my statutory holiday entitlement?
- Usually, yes. The 5.6 weeks can include bank holidays, so the common 28-day package is 20 days of leave plus the 8 bank holidays in England and Wales (occasionally 9 when an extra royal or historic day is added). Northern Ireland has 10 bank holidays and Scotland 9. Employers can require you to work on a bank holiday at normal pay unless your contract promises a premium, and time off in lieu is common but not a legal right. Check your contract on Good Friday and Easter Monday, as not every employer grants both.
- How is holiday pro-rated if I start part-way through the year?
- The calculator takes your full-year entitlement and scales it to the fraction of the leave year remaining. Someone working 3 days a week has a full-year entitlement of 16.8 days. Starting on 1 July in an April to March leave year leaves 9 of the 12 months, so the proportion is 0.75, giving 12.6 days, which rounds up to 13 for the rest of that leave year. If the leave year runs January to December, a 1 July start leaves 6 months, giving 8.4 days, or 8.5 rounded up to the nearest half day.