Holiday entitlement in the UK: the complete guide

Almost every worker in the UK is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For someone who works five days a week, that is 28 days, and 28 days is also the most statutory paid holiday anyone can get. Bank holidays can count towards it. Part-time staff get 5.6 of their own working weeks, and staff on irregular hours build their holiday up as they work.

This guide follows GOV.UK and Acas. Employers in Northern Ireland should check nidirect, which publishes its own guidance. It is general information, not legal advice. Your contracts may give more than the legal minimum, and when they do, the contract applies.

How much holiday are workers entitled to?

The legal minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, known as statutory leave entitlement. It applies to almost everyone classed as a worker, including agency workers, people on irregular hours and people who work only part of the year.

Working pattern	Statutory paid holiday a year
5 days a week	28 days (5 × 5.6)
6 days a week	28 days, because statutory paid holiday is capped at 28 days
3 days a week, all year	16.8 days (3 × 5.6)
Irregular hours or part of the year	Up to 5.6 weeks, built up at 12.07% of hours worked

An employer can offer more than this. Extra leave above the legal minimum does not have to follow every statutory rule. For example, it can depend on how long someone has worked for you.

How do you work out holiday for part-time staff?

Multiply the number of days they work each week by 5.6. Someone who works three days a week for the whole year gets at least 16.8 days of paid holiday. Acas explains the reason: part-time workers cannot be treated less favourably than full-time workers, so their entitlement is in proportion to the hours they work.

When a part-time worker's pattern changes during the year, or they work different hours each week, the irregular-hours rules below may apply instead.

Do bank holidays count towards holiday entitlement?

They can, if the contract says so. Workers have no legal right to paid time off on bank holidays. An employer can choose to include bank holidays in the 5.6 weeks, or give them on top.

The number of bank holidays differs across the UK. According to GOV.UK's official list, 2026 has:

Nation	Bank holidays in 2026
England and Wales	8
Scotland	10, including a World Cup bank holiday on Monday 15 June
Northern Ireland	10, including St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne

So a full-time worker in England on 28 days, with bank holidays included, has 20 days to book around the 8 bank holidays.

How does holiday work for irregular-hours and part-year workers?

For leave years that began on or after 1 April 2024, these workers build up holiday as they work. Their entitlement is 12.07% of the hours they worked in each pay period.

• An irregular-hours worker is someone whose hours in a pay period often or always change.
• A part-year worker has periods of at least a week in the leave year when they don't need to work and aren't paid.

Then round it for each pay period: a fraction of half an hour or more counts as a full hour, and less than half an hour counts as zero (Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 15B). GOV.UK's example: someone paid weekly who works 30 hours earns 30 × 12.07 ÷ 100 = 3.621 hours, which rounds up to 4 hours of leave. They can take it from their next pay period.

For these workers, employers can also use rolled-up holiday pay, adding holiday pay to each payment instead of paying it when leave is taken, unless the leave year began on or before 31 March 2024. Rolled-up holiday pay is not allowed for regular-hours workers.

Work it out for one person. The free holiday entitlement calculator gives you a figure for full-time, part-time and irregular-hours staff in a few seconds.

How does holiday build up in someone's first year?

For regular-hours workers, an employer can use either a leave year or an accrual system.

• Leave year. Tell staff the dates of their leave year when they start, for example 1 January to 31 December. If the contract doesn't set one, the leave year starts on their first day (for anyone who started after 1 October 1998).
• Accrual in the first year. Leave builds up at one-twelfth of the annual amount each month. After three months, someone on 28 days has 7 days.

When someone starts part way through a leave year, they get a share of that year's leave. GOV.UK's example: a leave year starting on 1 January, a start date of 13 January and 28 days a year gives 28 ÷ 12 = 2.33 days for January, rounded up to 2.5.

How is holiday pay calculated?

Workers are paid a week's pay for each week of statutory leave they take. What counts as a week's pay depends on how they work.

Working pattern	A week's holiday pay
Regular hours and fixed pay	Their pay for a week
Shift work with regular hours	The average weekly fixed hours over the previous 52 weeks, at their average hourly rate
Irregular hours or part-year	Their average pay over the previous 52 weeks, counting only weeks in which they were paid

If a week had no pay, count back another week, up to a maximum of 104 weeks.

For regular-hours workers, at least 4 of the 5.6 weeks must be paid at their normal rate of pay. That includes commission, regular overtime and payments for length of service or professional qualifications, but not usually bonuses. The remaining 1.6 weeks can be paid at their basic rate. For irregular-hours and part-year workers, all leave is paid at the normal rate.

How much notice do staff and employers have to give?

Unless the contract says otherwise:

• A worker gives notice of at least twice the leave they want, plus one day. One day off needs three days' notice.
• An employer who refuses or cancels leave gives notice of at least the length of the leave, plus one day. Refusing 10 days needs 11 days' notice.

Employers can tell staff to take leave, for example over Christmas, and can restrict leave at busy times. They cannot refuse to let workers take their leave at all.

Can holiday be carried over to next year?

The contract sets how much can be carried over. Where a worker gets 28 days, they can carry over up to 8. The law also protects leave that someone couldn't take:

• Sickness. Up to 20 of the 28 days for regular-hours workers, and up to 28 days for irregular-hours and part-year workers.
• Family-related leave, such as parental leave. Untaken leave carries over.
• No real chance to take it. The whole entitlement carries over if the worker was not given a reasonable opportunity to take leave, was not told they would lose it, or did not get rolled-up holiday pay they were entitled to.

What happens to holiday when someone leaves?

They may take their remaining leave during their notice period. The only time someone can be paid instead of taking statutory leave is when they leave. The employer must pay for untaken statutory leave, even after a dismissal for gross misconduct.

If someone has taken more leave than they had earned, the employer cannot take money from their final pay unless this was agreed beforehand in writing.

What holiday records do employers have to keep?

From 6 April 2026, employers must keep records of annual leave and holiday pay for at least 6 years, for example the days of leave taken and the holiday pay paid. You can choose how to keep them. An employer that cannot show it keeps holiday records may be fined.

Keeping holiday straight without a spreadsheet

With TeamZap, staff request leave from their phone and a manager approves it. Balances, entitlements and carry-forward are kept for each person, public holiday calendars are built in, and approved leave blocks that person on the rota, so nobody is booked on a day they have off. The records are there when someone asks how much leave they have left.

Sources

Checked on 20 September 2026. Figures change, especially each April, so check the source before relying on one.

• GOV.UK, Holiday entitlement: all parts (entitlement, calculating leave, holiday pay, booking time off, leaving a job). Page content last updated 17 September 2026.
• GOV.UK, UK bank holidays: 2026 dates for each nation.
• The Working Time Regulations 1998, regulation 15B: accrual and rounding for irregular-hours and part-year workers.
• Acas, Holiday entitlement.
• nidirect, Holiday entitlements (Northern Ireland).

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For a specific situation, contact Acas or take professional advice.