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Almost all people classed as workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks鈥� paid holiday a year (known as statutory leave entitlement or annual leave).

This includes:

• agency workers
• workers with 鈥榠rregular hours鈥� (where the number of hours they work in a pay period often or always changes)
• 鈥榩art-year鈥� workers (where there are periods of at least a week in a leave year where they do not need to work and are not paid)

An employer can include bank holidays as part of statutory annual leave.

Statutory annual leave entitlement

Most workers who work a 5-day week must receive at least 28 days鈥� paid annual leave a year. This is the equivalent of 5.6 weeks of holiday.聽

Working part-time

Part-time workers who work regular hours for the whole year are entitled to at least 5.6 weeks鈥� paid holiday, but this will amount to fewer than 28 days.聽

For example, if they work 3 days a week, they must get at least 16.8 days鈥� leave a year (3 脳 5.6).

Working irregular hours or for part of the year

People working irregular hours or part of the year are entitled to up to 5.6 weeks statutory leave.

They will build up (鈥榓ccrue鈥�) leave depending on the hours they鈥檝e already worked, rather than getting a fixed number of days or hours.

Use the holiday entitlement calculator to work out how much leave they鈥檝e accrued in a pay period.

Limits on statutory leave

Statutory paid holiday entitlement is limited to 28 days. For example, staff working 6 days a week are only entitled to 28 days鈥� paid holiday.

Bank holidays

Bank or public holidays do not have to be given as paid leave.

An employer can choose to include bank holidays as part of a worker鈥檚 statutory annual leave.

Extra leave

An employer can choose to offer more leave than the legal minimum. They do not have to apply all the rules that apply to statutory leave to the extra leave. For example, a worker might need to be employed for a certain amount of time before they become entitled to it.

Other aspects of holiday entitlement

Workers have the right to:

• get holiday pay
• build up holiday entitlement during certain types of leave, such as maternity, paternity, or adoption leave
• build up holiday entitlement while off work sick
• request holiday at the same time as sick leave

Disputes

Paid annual leave is a legal right that an employer must provide. If a worker thinks their rights to leave and pay are not being met there are a number of ways to resolve the dispute.

For regular-hours workers, employers can use a 鈥榣eave year鈥� or an 鈥榓ccrual鈥� system to work out how much leave their staff should get.

For irregular-hours and part-year workers, employers must use a specific accrual system.

Leave year

An employer should tell their staff the dates of their statutory leave year as soon as they start working, for example, it might run from 1 January to 31 December.

Workers must take their statutory leave during this time. If a leave year is not set out in a contract then it will start:

• on the first day of a new job (if started after 1 October 1998)
• on 1 October (if started on or before 1 October 1998)

The leave year and holiday entitlement is not affected by maternity, paternity or adoption leave. The employee still builds up (鈥榓ccrues鈥�) holiday over these periods.

Leave entitlement when starting a new job

If a worker starts their job part-way through a leave year, they鈥檙e only entitled to part of their total annual leave for the current leave year. What they get depends on how much of the year is left.

Accrual system

For regular hours workers, annual leave begins to build up (鈥榓ccrue鈥�) as soon as they start their job. An employer can use an accrual system to work out a worker鈥檚 leave during the first year of the job. Under this system, a worker gets one-twelfth of their leave in each month.

Irregular-hours or part-year workers

Employers need to use a specific accrual system to calculate leave for irregular-hours or part-year workers.

The amount of leave depends on:

• how often they get paid (their 鈥榩ay period鈥�)聽

• how many hours they worked in a pay period

Their entitlement will be 12.07% of the hours they worked in a pay period. It must be rounded up to the nearest hour if the entitlement is 0.5 of an hour or more.

For example, if they worked 30 hours and are paid weekly, they鈥檒l have earned 4 hours leave (30 脳 12.07 梅 100 = 3.621). They can take this leave from their next pay period.

Carrying over leave

The worker鈥檚 contract says how many days鈥� leave they can carry over into the next year.

If a worker gets 28 days鈥� leave, they can carry over a maximum of 8 days.

If a worker gets more than 28 days鈥� leave, their employer may allow them to carry over any additional untaken leave. Check the employment contract, company handbook or intranet to see what the rules say.

Workers on parental or sick leave

If a worker cannot take some or all of their leave entitlement because they鈥檙e on family-related leave, for example parental leave, they can carry over their untaken leave into next year.

If a worker could not take their leave entitlement because they were sick, they can carry over:

• up to 20 of their 28 days鈥� leave entitlement if they work regular hours for the whole year
• up to 28 days of their leave entitlement if they work irregular hours or for part of the year

If a worker was unable to take leave

Workers can carry over their whole leave entitlement if any of the following apply:

• they did not receive 鈥榬olled-up holiday pay鈥� that they were entitled to
• they were not given reasonable opportunity to take leave
• they were not told that they would lose their leave if they did not take it by the end of the leave year

Workers are entitled to a week鈥檚 pay for each week of statutory leave that they take.

How to work out a week鈥檚 pay

A week鈥檚 pay is worked out according to the kind of hours someone works and how they鈥檙e paid for the hours. This includes full-time, part-time, term-time and casual workers.

Working pattern	How a week鈥檚 pay is calculated
Regular hours and fixed pay (full- or part-time)	A worker鈥檚 pay for a week
Shift work with regular hours (full- or part-time)	The average number of weekly fixed hours a worker has worked in the previous 52 weeks, at their average hourly rate
Irregular-hours and part-year work	A worker鈥檚 average pay from the previous 52 weeks (only counting weeks in which they were paid)

Calculating average hourly or weekly rate

To calculate average hourly rate, only the hours worked and how much was paid for them should be counted. Take the average rate over the last 52 weeks.

A 鈥榳eek鈥� usually runs from Sunday to Saturday. Only use another 7-day period (like Thursday to Wednesday) if that鈥檚 how a worker鈥檚 pay is calculated.

If a worker has less than 52 weeks of pay, use the average pay rate for the full weeks they have worked.

Workers who are paid monthly

To work out a week鈥檚 pay for someone who鈥檚 paid monthly:

1. Calculate the worker鈥檚 average hourly pay for the last month. Do this by dividing the month鈥檚 pay by the number of hours worked in the month.

2. Calculate the weekly pay. Do this by multiplying the average hourly pay by the number of hours worked in a week.

Use the weekly pay calculation for each of the last 52 weeks to work out an average week鈥檚 pay.

鈥楤asic鈥� and 鈥榥ormal鈥� rate of pay

For regular-hours workers (full- or part-time), employers must pay:

• at least 4 weeks of the worker鈥檚 statutory entitlement at their 鈥榥ormal鈥� rate of pay
• the remaining 1.6 weeks at a 鈥榖asic鈥� rate of pay

For irregular-hours workers or those who work part of the year, all leave must be paid at their 鈥榥ormal鈥� rate of pay.

鈥楴ormal鈥� rate of pay includes commission, regular overtime payments, and any payments related to length of service or professional qualifications. It does not usually include bonus payments.

Rolled-up holiday pay

For regular-hours workers (full- or part- time), an employer cannot include an amount for holiday pay in the hourly rate (known as 鈥榬olled-up holiday pay鈥�).

Employers can use rolled-up holiday pay for irregular-hours and part-year workers, unless their leave year began on or before 31 March 2024.

More information

罢丑别谤别鈥檚 guidance for calculating holiday pay for workers without fixed hours or pay, which includes several examples.

You can also contact the with questions about general holiday pay issues.

The general notice period for taking leave is at least twice as long as the amount of leave a worker wants to take, plus 1 day. For example, a worker would give 3 days鈥� notice for 1 day鈥檚 leave.

An employer can refuse a leave request or cancel leave but they must give as much notice as the amount of leave requested, plus 1 day. For example, an employer would give 11 days鈥� notice if the worker asked for 10 days鈥� leave.

If the contract says something different about the notice a worker or employer should give, what鈥檚 in the contract will apply.

Part leave days

Some workers may be entitled to a part leave day - for example if they鈥檙e part-time or have a half day鈥檚 leave to take. How a part day should be taken is up to the employer.

When leave can and cannot be taken

Employers can:

• tell their staff to take leave, for example bank holidays or Christmas
• restrict when leave can be taken, for example at certain busy periods

There may be rules about this in the employment contract.

The notice period for this is at least twice as long as the leave they want their staff to take. The employer must tell the worker before the notice period begins.

If an employer wants a worker to take leave, they need to make sure that the worker can relax, rest and enjoy leisure during their holiday. For example, an employer cannot force a sick worker to take leave.

During their notice period the worker may be able to take whatever is left of their statutory annual leave.

Use the holiday entitlement calculator to work this out. How much they get depends on how much of the leave year has passed or how much leave they鈥檝e accrued.

Taking more leave than the entitlement

If a worker has taken more leave than they鈥檙e entitled to, their employer must not take money from their final pay unless it鈥檚 been agreed beforehand in writing. The rules in this situation should be outlined in the employment contract, company handbook or intranet.

Getting paid instead of taking holidays

The only time someone can get paid in place of taking statutory leave (known as 鈥榩ayment in lieu鈥�) is when they leave their job. Employers must pay for untaken statutory leave, even if the worker is dismissed for gross misconduct.

If an employer offers more than 5.6 weeks鈥� annual leave, they can agree separate arrangements for the extra leave.