UK Holiday Entitlement Calculator

UK Statutory Holiday Entitlement

Every worker in the UK is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave per year under the Working Time Regulations 1998 — one of the strongest minimum holiday protections in the world. For a standard 5-day-per-week employee, that translates to 28 days.

A common source of confusion: employers can count bank holidays towards the 5.6 weeks. So if your contract says "20 days plus 8 bank holidays," you are receiving exactly the statutory minimum — 28 days total. However, if your contract says "20 days annual leave," bank holidays are on top and you are receiving more than the minimum.

The 5.6-week entitlement applies to almost all workers — full-time, part-time, agency workers, and workers on zero-hours contracts. The main exclusions are the genuinely self-employed and certain agricultural workers under different regulations.

Important nuance — the 2023 reforms: Following the Harpur Trust v Brazel Supreme Court ruling in 2022, the government amended the Working Time Regulations from January 2024. For workers with irregular hours (zero-hours, casual, term-time), holiday entitlement is now calculated at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period rather than as a fixed annual entitlement. This prevents the anomaly where term-time workers received proportionally more holiday than their working pattern justified.

Your entitlement begins on your first day of employment — there is no probationary period that can lawfully delay it, though employers can restrict when you actually take it during the first year.

Calculating Holiday for Part-Time and Irregular Workers

Part-time workers receive the same 5.6 weeks as full-time employees — but because they work fewer days per week, their entitlement in days is lower. The formula is simple:

(Days worked per week) × 5.6 = annual holiday entitlement in days

Some examples:
- 3 days per week: 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days (round up to 17 — never round down)
- 4 days per week: 4 × 5.6 = 22.4 days (round up to 23)
- 2.5 days per week: 2.5 × 5.6 = 14 days

For workers whose hours vary week to week — casual contracts, zero-hours, seasonal staff — the 12.07% method introduced in 2024 applies. For every hour worked, the worker accrues 12.07% of that hour as paid leave. At a pay period end, the employer either:
- Pays out the accrued holiday immediately ("rolled-up holiday pay" — now lawful again from January 2024 for irregular-hours workers only), or
- Carries it as a balance to be taken as time off

For employees who join or leave mid-year, entitlement is pro-rated by month. Starting in month 4 (April): 9 months remaining ÷ 12 × 28 days = 21 days. Fractions are rounded up to the nearest half-day under HMRC guidance. Employers cannot require a worker to take holiday before it has been accrued, though many allow this as a goodwill gesture — get any such arrangement in writing.

Holiday Accrual in Your First Year

In your first year of employment, you accrue holiday at a rate of 1/12 of your annual entitlement for each complete month worked. This is the default position — your contract may be more generous.

Practical example: You start a new job on 1 March. By 1 October (7 complete months), you have accrued 7/12 × 28 = 16.3 days (rounded up to 16.5).

Can your employer prevent you from taking holiday in the first three or six months? Yes — employers have the right to refuse holiday requests or restrict when leave can be taken, as long as they give you notice (at least twice the number of days they want to postpone). What they cannot do is prevent you from taking any holiday at all, or require forfeiture of accrued holiday at year end.

Some employers have a policy of not paying holiday during a probationary period — this is unlawful. Holiday pay is a day-one right. If your employer withholds it, you can bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal for unlawful deduction of wages (no minimum service required).

Sick leave and maternity/paternity/adoption leave: you continue to accrue holiday during these periods even though you are not working. This is one of the areas employees most commonly miss — if you return from a long period of sick leave, check that your holiday balance reflects the full accrual during your absence.

Carrying Over and Paying Out Holiday

The basic rule under the Working Time Regulations is that holiday cannot be carried over — you must take your 5.6 weeks in the leave year they are accrued. But there are important exceptions.

Carry-over is permitted when:
- Your employer agrees to it (contractual carry-over provisions are common — typically 5 to 10 days)
- You were unable to take holiday due to sickness (confirmed by the ECJ and UK courts; you can carry forward up to 4 weeks, not the full 5.6, for up to 18 months)
- You were on statutory maternity, paternity, or adoption leave (the full 5.6 weeks carry forward into the next leave year)

The 2022 Brazel ruling and employer notification duties: Following this case and subsequent HMRC guidance, employers must now actively notify employees before holiday lapses. If an employer fails to inform an employee that their holiday will be lost and give them a reasonable opportunity to take it, the employee may be able to claim the holiday did not lapse.

On termination: When your employment ends for any reason — resignation, redundancy, dismissal — you are entitled to be paid for all accrued but untaken holiday. The calculation is: (daily rate) × (remaining holiday days). Daily rate = annual salary ÷ number of working days in the year (usually 260 for a 5-day week). Employers cannot require you to forfeit this — it is a statutory right and any contract clause purporting to do so is void.