Calculate statutory holiday entitlement for full-time, part-time, and part-year workers. Includes options for bank holidays and regional variations.
Statutory entitlement: 5.6 weeks per year
For 5-day week: 28 days
For 3-day week: 16.8 days
Many employers offer more than the statutory minimum.
All UK workers are entitled to paid annual leave. Understanding how holiday entitlement is calculated helps both employers and employees plan time off and ensure legal compliance.
Under UK law, almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. This is the minimum - many employers offer more. For someone working a standard 5-day week, this equals 28 days.
Important: This entitlement can include bank holidays. There is no automatic right to paid bank holidays on top of the 28 days. Check your contract to see how your employer handles this.
Part-time workers receive the same 5.6 weeks entitlement, calculated pro-rata. The formula is simple:
5.6 weeks × days worked per week = annual holiday days
For example:
The number of bank holidays varies by region:
Workers who don't work the full year (such as term-time only staff or those who start mid-year) have their holiday pro-rated based on the proportion of the year they work.
For example, if you work 6 months of the year and would normally be entitled to 28 days, your entitlement would be 14 days (28 × 6/12 = 14).
The first 4 weeks of holiday (20 days for full-time) generally cannot be carried over to the next year - it's use it or lose it. However, the additional 1.6 weeks (8 days for full-time) may be carried over if your employer's policy allows.
There are exceptions - holiday can be carried over if:
Holiday pay should be based on the employee's normal weekly earnings. For workers with variable pay, this is typically calculated as an average over the previous 52 weeks of work.