UK Holiday Entitlement Calculator
Work out UK statutory holiday entitlement for full-time, part-time and irregular-hours workers, including pro-rata holiday when someone starts or leaves part-way through the leave year.
Your holiday entitlement
28 days
Statutory minimum for 5 days a week, for a full leave year.
How we worked it out
- A full leave year: 5.6 weeks × 5 days a week = 28 days.
Working this out for a whole team?
OfficeSimplify does it for everyone. Each person's allowance is worked out from their start and leaving dates for your leave year, and they can see how much they have left.
How is UK holiday entitlement calculated?
In the UK, almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year. For someone who works 5 days a week, that's 28 days. To work out anyone's statutory minimum, multiply 5.6 by the days they work each week. It stops at 28 days, so someone who works 6 days a week still gets 28.
| Days worked a week | Statutory holiday a year |
|---|---|
| 1 | 5.6 days |
| 2 | 11.2 days |
| 3 | 16.8 days |
| 4 | 22.4 days |
| 4.5 | 25.2 days |
| 5, 6 or 7 | 28 days |
Statutory and contractual holiday
Statutory holiday is the legal minimum: 5.6 weeks a year. Contractual holiday is what the employment contract gives, which can be more than the minimum but never less. To see both, add your contract's full-time holiday under "More options" in the calculator.
Holiday when you start or leave part-way through the year
Starting a new job
If you start part-way through the leave year, you get a share of the year's holiday for the months that are left, counting the month you start in. The GOV.UK calculator rounds a starter's holiday up to the nearest half day. Someone who works 5 days a week and starts on 15 June, in a leave year from 1 January to 31 December, gets 16.5 days: 28 × 7 months ÷ 12 = 16.33, rounded up to 16.5.
Leaving a job
If you leave part-way through the leave year, you get a share of the year's holiday for the days up to and including your leaving date. Someone who works 5 days a week and leaves on 30 June, in a leave year from 1 January to 31 December, gets 13.9 days: 28 × 181 days ÷ 365 = 13.88, rounded up to 13.9.
When you leave, your employer must pay you for any statutory holiday you've built up but not taken. If you've taken more than you've built up, they can only take it back from your final pay if you agreed to that in writing. Work out the pay with the holiday pay calculator.
Do bank holidays count towards the 28 days?
They can. In the UK there's no legal right to paid time off on bank holidays, and an employer can count them as part of the 28 days. Many employers give them on top instead. A contract that says "20 days plus bank holidays" gives 28 days in England and Wales in 2026. Your contract says which applies to you. If your holiday includes them, tick "My holiday includes bank holidays" in the calculator to see how many fall in your leave year.
| Nation | Bank holidays in 2026 | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 8 | 2026 · 2027 |
| Scotland | 10 | 2026 · 2027 |
| Northern Ireland | 10 | 2026 · 2027 |
If full-time staff get bank holidays on top, part-time staff should get a pro-rata share. Someone who works 3 days a week gets 3/5 of them: 4.8 days out of 8 in England and Wales in 2026.
How does holiday work for irregular-hours and part-year workers?
For leave years that start on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers build up holiday as they work: 12.07% of the hours they work in each pay period, rounded to the nearest hour. Working 30 hours in a week builds up 4 hours of holiday: 30 × 12.07% = 3.62, rounded to 4.
You're an irregular-hours worker if the paid hours you work in each pay period are wholly or mostly variable under your contract. You're a part-year worker if your contract has periods of at least a week when you don't work and aren't paid.
To work it out, choose "Irregular hours, or only part of the year" in the calculator. For leave years that started before 1 April 2024, use GOV.UK's holiday entitlement calculator.
Holiday entitlement questions
Can unused holiday be carried over?
In the UK, workers can usually carry over up to 8 days of statutory holiday into the next leave year, if their employer agrees. Holiday above the 28 days follows the contract or staff handbook. If you couldn't take your holiday because you were off sick, you can carry over up to 20 days, and use them within 18 months of the end of the leave year they came from. Irregular-hours and part-year workers can carry over up to 28 days in that case. If you couldn't take it because of maternity or other family leave, you can carry it all over.
Do I build up holiday while off sick or on maternity leave?
Yes. You keep building up holiday while you're off sick, and during maternity, paternity and adoption leave. An employer can't make a sick worker take holiday instead.
Can my employer pay me instead of me taking holiday?
Only when you leave. While you're employed, statutory holiday has to be taken, not swapped for pay. When you leave, your employer must pay you for statutory holiday you've built up but not taken, even if you're dismissed for gross misconduct. Holiday above 5.6 weeks can be handled differently, if you and your employer agree.
Can my employer tell me when to take holiday?
Yes. Your employer can tell you to take holiday on certain days, such as bank holidays or over Christmas, and can stop you taking it at busy times. They can't stop you taking it at all. When you book holiday, the usual notice is twice the length of the holiday plus a day, so 3 days for 1 day off, unless your contract says something different.
Free tools for employers
Works in Slack and Microsoft Teams
Keep track of holiday for your whole team
- Works out each person's allowance from their start and leaving dates, for your leave year
- Shows everyone how much holiday they have used and how much is left
- Carries unused days into the next leave year, the way you set it up
- Staff request time off and managers approve it in Microsoft Teams or Slack, as well as on the web