Free tool · rates current from 1 April 2024 rules

Holiday entitlement calculator

Statutory minimum holiday for full-time, part-time and irregular-hours staff. Your contract can give more than this, never less.

Days worked per week Working the full holiday year?

28 days statutory minimum, including bank holidays

5.6 weeks x 5 days = 28 days (the statutory cap)

Bank holidays are not extra by default. The statutory 5.6 weeks can include them. Whether your people get bank holidays on top depends on the contract wording, and "28 days plus bank holidays" written loosely is one of the most common accidental over-promises we find.

Regular overtime changes holiday pay, not holiday time. If someone regularly works paid overtime or earns commission, at least four weeks of their holiday must be paid at their normal rate including it, not at basic pay. Getting this wrong is the most reliably incorrect calculation in industrial firms, and it carries back pay.

How it is worked out

Everyone gets 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days. Part-time staff get the same 5.6 weeks of their own working pattern. For irregular-hours and part-year workers, holiday accrues at 12.07 per cent of hours actually worked in each pay period, for holiday years starting on or after 1 April 2024, and rolled-up holiday pay is permitted for these workers if it is shown separately on the payslip.

Bank holidays are not automatically extra

The statutory entitlement is 5.6 weeks, capped at 28 days for someone working five days or more a week. There are eight bank holidays in England and Wales, so an employer who gives 20 days plus bank holidays is exactly at the statutory minimum, not above it. Whether bank holidays come out of the entitlement or sit on top of it is a contractual question, and if your handbook is vague about it you will eventually have the argument.

Irregular hours and part-year workers

For staff whose hours vary, and for people who only work part of the year, holiday accrues at 12.07 per cent of hours worked in each pay period. That figure is 5.6 weeks expressed as a proportion of the 46.4 working weeks in a year. Rolled-up holiday pay, paying an uplift with each payslip instead of paying holiday when it is taken, is permitted again for these workers provided it is itemised separately.

For everyone else, rolled-up holiday pay is still not lawful, and the fact that a worker agreed to it does not fix that.

Carrying holiday over

Four weeks of the entitlement derives from retained EU law and can be carried over in limited circumstances, notably where someone has been unable to take it through sickness or family leave. The remaining 1.6 weeks can be carried over by agreement. A blanket use it or lose it rule is common and is fine as a default, but it will not survive contact with a long-term sickness absence.

Common questions

How many days holiday is the statutory minimum?

5.6 weeks, which is 28 days for someone working five or more days a week. Part-time staff get 5.6 times their normal working week.

Do bank holidays count towards the 28 days?

They can. The statutory entitlement is 28 days in total, and an employer offering 20 days plus eight bank holidays is meeting the minimum exactly. Whether they are additional depends on the contract.

How is holiday calculated for irregular hours workers?

At 12.07 per cent of the hours worked in each pay period, which is 5.6 weeks expressed as a proportion of the working year.

Can holiday be carried into the next year?

Four weeks can be carried over only in limited situations, such as sickness or family leave preventing it being taken. The remaining 1.6 weeks can be carried over by agreement.

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