UK Annual Leave & Holiday Entitlement Calculator
Free UK Annual Leave Calculator 2025. Calculate your statutory holiday entitlement including pro-rata for part-time workers and bank holidays.
Last updated: March 2026
Annual Leave Calculator
Calculate your UK statutory annual leave entitlement, including pro-rata for part-time workers and bank holiday information.
Your Total Annual Leave
Understanding UK Annual Leave Rights
In the United Kingdom, almost all workers are legally entitled to paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998. This is a statutory right that applies from day one of employment -- there is no qualifying period.
The 5.6 Weeks Entitlement
The statutory minimum annual leave in the UK is 5.6 weeks per year. For a full-time worker on a standard 5-day week, this equates to 28 days. The entitlement is capped at 28 days, so someone working 6 days per week still only receives 28 days, not 33.6.
Who Is Entitled?
Almost all workers in the UK are entitled to statutory annual leave, including:
- Full-time employees
- Part-time employees (pro-rata)
- Agency workers
- Workers on zero-hours contracts
- Irregular hours workers
- Apprentices
The only group not covered is genuinely self-employed individuals (not workers classified as self-employed by their employer).
Part-Time Pro-Rata Calculation
Part-time workers receive the same 5.6 weeks, calculated proportionally based on their working pattern. The formula is simple:
Annual leave (days) = Days worked per week x 5.6
| Days Per Week | Statutory Leave (Days) | Including Bank Hols |
|---|---|---|
| 5 days (full-time) | 28.0 days | 20 + 8 bank holidays |
| 4 days | 22.4 days | 16 + 6.4 bank holidays |
| 3 days | 16.8 days | 12 + 4.8 bank holidays |
| 2.5 days | 14.0 days | 10 + 4 bank holidays |
| 2 days | 11.2 days | 8 + 3.2 bank holidays |
| 1 day | 5.6 days | 4 + 1.6 bank holidays |
UK Bank Holidays 2025/26
England and Wales have 8 bank holidays per year. Scotland has 9, and Northern Ireland has 10. There is no automatic legal right to paid time off on bank holidays -- it depends on your employment contract.
England and Wales Bank Holidays 2025
| Date | Bank Holiday |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2025 | New Year's Day |
| 18 April 2025 | Good Friday |
| 21 April 2025 | Easter Monday |
| 5 May 2025 | Early May Bank Holiday |
| 26 May 2025 | Spring Bank Holiday |
| 25 August 2025 | Summer Bank Holiday |
| 25 February 2026 | Christmas Day |
| 26 February 2026 | Boxing Day |
Special Situations
Starting Mid-Year
If you start a new job part way through the leave year, your entitlement is calculated pro-rata. For example, starting 6 months into the leave year as a full-time worker gives you 14 days (half of 28) for the remainder of the year.
Irregular Hours and Zero-Hours Contracts
From 1 January 2024, workers with irregular hours or part-year contracts accrue leave based on 12.07% of hours worked in a pay period. This replaced the previous complex calculation methods. The 12.07% figure comes from dividing 5.6 weeks by 46.4 working weeks (52 weeks minus 5.6 weeks leave).
Accrual During Absence
Annual leave continues to accrue during:
- Maternity and paternity leave -- full accrual throughout
- Sick leave -- full accrual; unused leave can be carried over
- Adoption leave -- full accrual
- Shared parental leave -- full accrual
Carry Over Rules
The statutory leave breaks into two portions with different carry-over rules:
- First 4 weeks (20 days): Cannot normally be carried over, unless the worker was unable to take it (e.g., due to sickness or maternity leave)
- Additional 1.6 weeks (8 days): Can be carried over to the next year if there is a written agreement
Know Your Annual Leave Rights
Day One Right
Annual leave is a day-one right. There is no qualifying period. You start accruing leave from your first day of employment, though your employer may require you to wait before taking leave.
Holiday Pay
Holiday pay should reflect your normal earnings, including regular overtime, commission, and bonuses. Following the Harpur Trust ruling, pay must be based on a 52-week reference period.
Cannot Be Replaced by Payment
Employers cannot pay you instead of giving you leave (except when you leave your job). You must actually take the time off -- it is a health and safety measure.
Employer Can Set Dates
Your employer can tell you when to take leave (e.g., factory shutdowns at Christmas) as long as they give you twice as much notice as the leave period -- 2 days notice for 1 day off.
Leaving Your Job
When you leave, you must be paid for any untaken leave. If you have taken more than your accrued entitlement, your employer may deduct this from your final pay if your contract allows.
Cannot Opt Out
Unlike the 48-hour working week, you cannot opt out of annual leave. It is an absolute right that cannot be waived, even if you want to work through your holidays.
Annual Leave Entitlement in the UK
Every worker in the United Kingdom has a legal right to paid annual leave. This right is established by the Working Time Regulations 1998 and applies to all employees and most workers, including part-time, zero-hours, and agency staff. Understanding your annual leave entitlement is important for both employees and employers, as getting it wrong can lead to disputes, financial penalties, and even employment tribunal claims. This guide covers the statutory rules, common scenarios, and worked examples for the 2025/26 leave year.
Statutory Minimum: 5.6 Weeks Per Year
The statutory minimum annual leave entitlement in the UK is 5.6 weeks per year. For a full-time employee working five days per week, this equates to 28 days of paid leave. This is the absolute minimum required by law — many employers offer more generous allowances as part of their benefits package. Unlike some other employment rights, workers cannot opt out of their annual leave entitlement, even if they wish to work through their holidays.
Employers can choose whether to include the eight UK bank holidays within the 28-day statutory entitlement or provide them in addition. There is no legal requirement to give bank holidays as paid leave, though most employers do. If bank holidays are included, a full-time worker would have 20 days of flexible leave plus 8 bank holidays, totalling 28 days.
Part-Time Worker Calculations
Part-time workers receive a pro-rata share of the full-time entitlement. The formula is straightforward:
Annual leave = 5.6 × days worked per week
Here are common examples:
- 4 days/week: 5.6 × 4 = 22.4 days per year
- 3 days/week: 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days per year
- 2 days/week: 5.6 × 2 = 11.2 days per year
For workers with irregular hours or those on zero-hours contracts, leave accrues at a rate of 12.07% of hours worked. This percentage is derived from the formula: 5.6 weeks ÷ (52.143 weeks − 5.6 weeks) = 12.07%.
Including Bank Holidays in the Allowance
There is a common misconception that bank holidays are automatically in addition to the 28-day statutory entitlement. In fact, employers can count bank holidays as part of the 28 days. This is particularly important for part-time workers.
If a part-time employee working three days a week has their leave inclusive of bank holidays, and their normal working day falls on a Monday, they will use more of their entitlement on bank holidays (most of which are Mondays) than a colleague who works Tuesday to Thursday. To avoid unfairness, many employers express all leave as a total number of hours rather than days.
Accrual During Maternity, Paternity, and Sick Leave
Annual leave continues to accrue during maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, shared parental leave, and periods of sickness absence. This means that an employee returning from 39 weeks of maternity leave will have accrued their full annual leave entitlement for that period. Employers must allow returning employees to take this accrued leave, and it is common practice to allow it to be carried over into the next leave year if it could not reasonably be taken. The same principle applies to long-term sickness: employees on sick leave continue to build up their holiday entitlement.
Carrying Over Unused Leave
Under normal circumstances, only 8 days (the equivalent of 1.6 weeks) of the statutory 28-day entitlement can be carried over into the next leave year, and only if there is a written agreement between employer and employee. The remaining 20 days (equivalent to the 4 weeks derived from European law) generally cannot be carried over and are lost if not taken. However, if an employee was unable to take leave due to sickness or maternity leave, it must be carried over. Employers can offer more generous carry-over policies through their contracts.
Payment in Lieu When Leaving a Job
When an employee leaves their job, they must be paid for any accrued but untaken annual leave. This is known as "payment in lieu." The calculation is based on the proportion of the leave year that has passed minus any leave already taken. For example, if an employee with 28 days' entitlement leaves halfway through the leave year and has taken 10 days, they are owed 14 − 10 = 4 days' pay. Conversely, if they have taken more leave than they have accrued, the employer may be able to deduct the excess from their final pay, provided the employment contract allows it.
Sources: Holiday entitlement (gov.uk), Part-time worker rights (gov.uk). Last verified: March 2026.
UK Bank Holidays 2026
| Date | Bank Holiday |
|---|---|
| 1 January (Thu) | New Year's Day |
| 3 April (Fri) | Good Friday |
| 6 April (Mon) | Easter Monday |
| 4 May (Mon) | Early May Bank Holiday |
| 25 May (Mon) | Spring Bank Holiday |
| 31 August (Mon) | Summer Bank Holiday |
| 25 December (Fri) | Christmas Day |
| 28 December (Mon) | Boxing Day (substitute) |
England and Wales have 8 bank holidays in 2026. Scotland has 9 (includes 2 January and 30 November). Northern Ireland has 10 (includes St Patrick's Day and Battle of the Boyne).
UK Annual Leave Entitlement 2025/26
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, most UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year. For a full-time worker (5 days per week), this equals 28 days including bank holidays.
| Working Pattern | Annual Leave | Inc. Bank Hols |
|---|---|---|
| 5 days/week (full-time) | 28 days | 20 + 8 |
| 4 days/week | 22.4 days | Pro-rata |
| 3 days/week | 16.8 days | Pro-rata |
| 2 days/week | 11.2 days | Pro-rata |
| 1 day/week | 5.6 days | Pro-rata |
Part-time workers receive 5.6 weeks pro-rata. Holiday entitlement begins accruing from day one of employment. Employers can include bank holidays within the 5.6 weeks or offer them on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Almost all UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave per year. For full-time workers (5 days/week), this equals 28 days. This is the statutory minimum and can include bank holidays.
Your employer may offer more than this. Part-time workers receive the same 5.6 weeks, calculated pro-rata based on their working pattern.
Part-time leave is calculated by multiplying days worked per week by 5.6. For example, working 3 days per week gives you 3 x 5.6 = 16.8 days. For irregular hours workers, the calculation is 12.07% of hours worked. Part-time workers must not be treated less favourably than full-time colleagues -- the entitlement is exactly proportional.
There is no automatic right to paid bank holidays. Your employer can include the 8 bank holidays within the 28-day statutory entitlement, giving you 20 days to choose plus 8 bank holidays. Alternatively, they can offer bank holidays on top, giving you 28 + 8 = 36 days total. Check your employment contract -- it will specify which arrangement applies to you.
The first 4 weeks (20 days for full-time) cannot normally be carried over unless you were prevented from taking leave due to sickness, maternity, or similar reasons. The additional 1.6 weeks (8 days) can be carried over with your employer's agreement. Many employers have their own carry-over policies which may be more generous than the legal minimum.
Yes. Annual leave continues to accrue during all types of statutory leave including sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, and shared parental leave. If you are unable to take your leave due to long-term sickness, you can carry it over. This was confirmed by case law and applies to all UK workers.
When you leave a job, you are entitled to be paid for any untaken statutory annual leave. The amount is calculated pro-rata based on how much of the leave year has passed. For example, leaving 6 months into the year having taken no leave means you are owed 14 days' pay (half of 28). If you have taken more leave than accrued, your employer may deduct the overpayment from your final pay if your contract permits this.
Zero-hours contract workers are entitled to annual leave like any other worker. Since January 2024, irregular hours workers accrue leave at 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period. For example, if you work 100 hours in a month, you accrue 12.07 hours of paid leave. Holiday pay is calculated based on the average pay over the previous 52 weeks worked.
UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks (28 days) of paid annual leave per year, which includes bank holidays. Part-time workers receive a pro-rata equivalent based on their working pattern.
From April 2024, workers with irregular hours calculate holiday pay using a 52-week reference period — averaging weekly pay over the last 52 paid weeks. The 12.07% accrual method was replaced.
Statutory leave (up to 4 weeks under the Working Time Directive) can be carried over if you could not take it due to sickness, maternity/paternity leave or if your employer prevented you from taking it. Your contract may allow more carry-over.
Rolled-up holiday pay means paying an extra percentage (12.07%) on top of regular pay instead of paying full pay during leave. It is now legal again for irregular-hours workers under the 2023 Regulations changes.
Holiday accrues from day one of employment. In your first year, you accrue 1/12th of your annual entitlement for each complete month worked. You can take leave before fully accruing it if your employer agrees.
Yes — employers can refuse holiday requests with reasonable notice (at least as much notice as the leave requested). They cannot prevent you from taking your statutory entitlement altogether.
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Last updated: March 2026 | Reviewed for accuracy against current Working Time Regulations
Expert Reviewed -- This calculator is reviewed by our team of HR and employment law experts and updated regularly with the latest UK regulations. Last verified: February 2026.
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