UK Holiday Pay Calculator

Full-time workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year, which equals 28 days for someone working 5 days a week. This can include bank holidays. Part-time workers receive a pro-rata entitlement based on the number of days they work per week.

Part-time holiday entitlement is calculated by multiplying your days worked per week by 5.6. For example, if you work 3 days per week, your entitlement is 3 x 5.6 = 16.8 days per year. Your employer may round this up to 17 days. The entitlement is pro-rata and must be proportional to full-time workers.

The 12.07% method is used for irregular hours and zero-hours workers. For every hour worked, 12.07% accrues as paid holiday. This percentage comes from dividing 5.6 weeks of holiday by the remaining 46.4 working weeks in a year (5.6 / 46.4 = 0.1207 or 12.07%). It ensures workers with variable hours get their fair entitlement.

Your employer can choose to include bank holidays as part of your 28-day (5.6 weeks) statutory entitlement. Many employers give bank holidays off in addition to the 28 days, but this is not a legal requirement. Check your contract to see how your employer handles bank holidays.

When you leave your job, you are entitled to be paid for any holiday you have accrued but not taken. The calculation is: (days entitled for the year x proportion of year worked) minus days already taken. If you have taken more holiday than accrued, your employer may be able to deduct the overpayment from your final pay.

Yes, your employer can refuse a holiday request, but they must give you notice equal to the length of the holiday you requested. For example, to refuse a 5-day request, they must give you 5 days notice. They cannot refuse all holiday requests — you must be able to take your full entitlement during the holiday year.

The first 4 weeks of statutory holiday (from the EU Working Time Directive) can be carried over if you were unable to take it due to sickness or maternity/paternity leave. The additional 1.6 weeks (UK-specific) can only be carried over if your employer agrees or your contract allows it. Many employers have a use-it-or-lose-it policy.

For workers with variable pay (including overtime, commission and regular bonuses), holiday pay should be based on the average pay over a 52-week reference period, excluding any weeks where no pay was earned. This was established by the Harpur Trust v Brazel Supreme Court ruling in 2022.

Yes, agency workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave from day one of an assignment. Some agencies include holiday pay in the hourly rate (known as rolled-up holiday pay), though this practice has legal complications. Since January 2024, rolled-up holiday pay is legally permissible for irregular hours and part-year workers.

A holiday year is the 12-month period during which your annual leave entitlement applies. It is set by your employer or contract and can start on any date (e.g. 1 January, 1 April, or your start date anniversary). If your contract does not specify, it defaults to 1 October for workers who started before 1 October 1998, or their start date for those who started after.