Holiday Entitlement Calculator
Work out pro-rata holiday entitlement for part-time staff, mid-year starters and leavers. Our free calculator handles the UK statutory rules so you don’t have to.
Including bank holidays (UK statutory minimum is 28 days for 5-day week)
Include statutory minimum in calculation?
UK statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks per year
Pro-rata for joiners/leavers?
Calculate proportional entitlement for mid-year starters or leavers
Results
Total Holiday Entitlement
28
days
Statutory Minimum
28
days
Above Statutory
0
days
How Is Holiday Entitlement Calculated?
UK Statutory Holiday Entitlement
Under UK employment law, almost all workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid holiday per year. For someone working a standard 5-day week, this equates to 28 days per year (5.6 x 5 = 28). This is the maximum statutory entitlement. Employers cannot be required by law to give more than 28 days, although many choose to.
Bank Holidays
There is no automatic legal right to have bank holidays off or to receive extra pay for working on them. It depends on what your employment contract says. Employers can include bank holidays as part of your statutory 28-day entitlement. The 28-day statutory minimum already accounts for the 8 usual bank holidays in England and Wales.
Part-Time Workers
Part-time workers are entitled to a pro-rata amount of holiday based on the number of days or hours they work per week compared to a full-time employee. For example, someone working 3 days a week is entitled to 3/5 of the full-time allowance: 28 x 3/5 = 16.8 days per year.
Shift Workers
Shift workers are still entitled to 5.6 weeks' holiday per year, but a “week” is based on their average working pattern. To calculate entitlement, work out the average number of shifts per week (shifts in the cycle ÷ days in the cycle × 7) then multiply by 5.6. For example, a worker on a 4 on 4 off pattern averaging 3.5 shifts per week is entitled to 19.6 shifts per year (5.6 × 3.5).
Mid-Year Starters and Leavers
When an employee joins or leaves part-way through a holiday year, they are entitled to a proportional amount of their annual entitlement based on the fraction of the year they have worked (or will work). This calculator handles this automatically when you enable the pro-rata option.
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Contact UsThis calculator is provided for general guidance only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Results are based on the information you provide and standard UK statutory calculations. Individual circumstances, contractual terms and collective agreements may affect actual entitlements. Rebox HR accepts no liability for decisions made based on these results. For advice specific to your situation, please contact us.
UK Statutory Holiday Rules
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, almost every UK worker is entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. The same rule applies to full-time, part-time, agency, casual and zero-hours workers. Only the calculation method changes.
The Pro-Rata Formula
Days per week worked × 5.6
- 5-day week
- 28 days per year (the statutory cap)
- 4-day week
- 22.4 days per year
- 3-day week
- 16.8 days per year
- Irregular hours
- 12.07% of hours worked
Bank holidays can count towards the 5.6 weeks. They are not a separate statutory entitlement. Many employers choose to give 28 days plus eight bank holidays as a contractual benefit, but only the 5.6 weeks is required by law.
Pro-Rata Holiday Examples
The same 5.6-week formula applies regardless of working pattern. These worked examples show how the maths plays out for common arrangements.
| Working pattern | Calculation | Annual entitlement |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time, 5 days a week | 5 × 5.6 | 28 days |
| Part-time, 4 days a week | 4 × 5.6 | 22.4 days |
| Part-time, 3 days a week | 3 × 5.6 | 16.8 days |
| Part-time, 2.5 days a week | 2.5 × 5.6 | 14 days |
| Mid-year starter (joined 1 July, Jan–Dec leave year) | 28 × (6 / 12) | 14 days remaining |
| Zero-hours worker (worked 600 hours) | 600 × 12.07% | 72.4 hours |
Bank Holidays and Part-Time Workers
Bank holidays are a common source of confusion. Part-time staff have the same statutory holiday allowance as full-time staff, calculated pro rata, but bank holidays disproportionately fall on Mondays and Fridays. A part-timer who never works Mondays would otherwise miss out on most bank holidays.
Option 1
Pro-rata bank holiday allowance
Add a pro-rated share of the eight UK bank holidays to the part-timer's annual allowance. A 3-day worker would get 4.8 extra days (8 × 3/5). They book bank holidays as normal leave from this combined pot.
Option 2
Bank holidays inside the 5.6 weeks
If your contracts state that bank holidays are included in the statutory 5.6 weeks, no separate calculation is required. Be careful that the resulting entitlement does not fall below the statutory minimum after factoring in shift patterns.
Whichever model you use, document it clearly in the contract of employment and the staff handbook so there is no doubt about how bank holidays are treated.
Holiday Entitlement FAQs
- What is the UK statutory holiday entitlement?
- Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, almost all UK workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. For someone working a standard five-day week this works out at 28 days. Bank holidays can be counted towards the 5.6 weeks. They are not a separate statutory entitlement on top. Many employers choose to give 28 days plus eight bank holidays as a contractual benefit, but the 5.6 weeks figure is the statutory minimum.
- How do you calculate pro rata holiday entitlement for part-time staff?
- Multiply the number of days the employee works each week by 5.6. Someone working three days a week is entitled to 16.8 days of paid holiday per year (3 x 5.6). Someone working two and a half days is entitled to 14 days (2.5 x 5.6). Use the calculator at the top of this page to work it out automatically and to handle awkward part-week patterns.
- Do part-time workers get bank holidays?
- Part-time workers have the same legal right to 5.6 weeks holiday as full-time staff, calculated pro rata. There is no separate entitlement to bank holidays. Where a bank holiday falls on a day the part-timer would normally work, they take it as part of their leave allowance. Where it falls on a non-working day, they do not get an extra day off, but to keep things fair, many employers add a pro-rata share of bank holidays to the part-timer's annual allowance instead.
- How is holiday calculated for mid-year starters?
- Pro-rate the annual entitlement by the proportion of the leave year remaining. If your leave year runs January to December and someone joins on 1 July, they are entitled to half the annual allowance. The calculator handles this automatically. Enter the start date and it works out the remaining entitlement to the end of your current leave year.
- How is holiday calculated for leavers?
- When an employee leaves part-way through the leave year, calculate the holiday they have accrued up to their last day and compare it to the holiday already taken. If they have taken less, you must pay the balance in their final pay. If they have taken more, you can normally deduct the overpayment from their final salary, provided your contract permits this. Use the calculator to work out exactly how many days they have accrued at the leaving date.
- What is the difference between 5.6 weeks and 28 days?
- 5.6 weeks is the statutory entitlement for any worker, regardless of working pattern. 28 days is what 5.6 weeks works out to for someone working a standard five-day week (5.6 x 5 = 28). Anyone working a different pattern uses the 5.6 weeks figure as the basis: a four-day worker gets 22.4 days, a three-day worker gets 16.8 days, and so on. The 28-day figure also caps the statutory entitlement for people working six or more days a week. They do not get a higher allowance.
- How do you calculate holiday for irregular hours or zero-hours workers?
- For workers with no fixed pattern, holiday is calculated as 12.07% of the hours worked. This figure comes from dividing 5.6 weeks by 46.4 working weeks (52 minus 5.6). Pay it as it is accrued, not just at the end of the leave year. After the Harpur Trust v Brazel Supreme Court decision in 2022, term-time and irregular-hours workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday based on their average earnings, even if their hours vary widely.
- Can unused holiday be carried over to the next year?
- By default, the four weeks of statutory holiday derived from EU law cannot be carried over and must be taken in the current leave year. The additional 1.6 weeks of UK statutory leave can be carried over by agreement, often into the first three months of the new leave year. Contractual holiday above the statutory minimum can be carried over on whatever terms the employer sets out. There are also exceptions for sickness and family leave, where carry-over may be required by law.
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Need Help With Holiday Policies?
Rebox HR helps UK SMEs design fair, compliant holiday policies and handle awkward cases, from carry-over disputes to part-time entitlements and zero-hours workers. Our CIPD-qualified consultants can support you on a retained or pay-as-you-go basis.