All workers in the UK are entitled to paid annual leave. This guide explains statutory entitlements, pro-rata calculations, and how bank holidays factor in.
Statutory Holiday Entitlement
Full-Time Entitlement
| Days Worked/Week | Statutory Entitlement |
|---|---|
| 5 days | 28 days (5.6 × 5) |
| 6 days | 28 days (capped) |
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Part-Time Pro-Rata Calculation
Entitlement = Days worked per week × 5.6
| Days/Week | Entitlement | Hours if 8hr days |
|---|---|---|
| 1 day | 5.6 days | 44.8 hours |
| 2 days | 11.2 days | 89.6 hours |
| 3 days | 16.8 days | 134.4 hours |
| 4 days | 22.4 days | 179.2 hours |
Example: 3 Days Per Week
Statutory entitlement: 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days
If working 7.5hr days: 16.8 × 7.5 = 126 hours
Accrual During the Year
If you start or leave mid-year, calculate pro-rata:
Example: Started 1st July
Full entitlement: 25 days + 8 bank holidays = 33 days
Months remaining: 6 out of 12
Pro-rata: 33 × (6 ÷ 12) = 16.5 days
Bank Holidays 2025
| Date | Bank Holiday |
|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day |
| 18 April | Good Friday |
| 21 April | Easter Monday |
| 5 May | Early May Bank Holiday |
| 26 May | Spring Bank Holiday |
| 25 August | Summer Bank Holiday |
| 25 December | Christmas Day |
| 26 December | Boxing Day |
Holiday Pay Calculation
Holiday pay should be at your normal rate, including:
- Regular overtime (if guaranteed)
- Commission
- Bonuses linked to performance
- Shift allowances
Carrying Over Leave
- Statutory 4 weeks: Usually must be taken in the leave year
- Additional 1.6 weeks: Can be carried over if contract allows
- Unused leave on leaving: Must be paid or taken during notice
Average UK Holiday Entitlement by Sector
| Sector | Typical Total Leave |
|---|---|
| Public sector | 27-30 days + bank hols |
| Finance/Banking | 25-28 days + bank hols |
| Professional services | 23-25 days + bank hols |
| Retail/Hospitality | 20-25 days (often inc. bank hols) |
| Minimum statutory | 28 days (can inc. bank hols) |
Scotland Bank Holidays 2025
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| 1-2 January | New Year (2 days) |
| 18 April | Good Friday |
| 5 May | May Day |
| 26 May | Spring Bank Holiday |
| 4 August | Summer Bank Holiday |
| 30 November | St Andrew's Day |
| 25-26 December | Christmas |
Holiday Rights for Different Workers
- Zero-hours contracts: Same 5.6 weeks entitlement, paid as accrued
- Agency workers: Entitled from day one of assignment
- Part-year workers: Supreme Court ruled pro-rata based on weeks worked (2022)
- Maternity leave: Holiday continues to accrue during leave
Irregular Hours and Part-Year Workers: The 2024 Rules
From 1 January 2024, new regulations under the Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 introduced a reformed method for calculating holiday entitlement and pay for irregular hours and part-year workers in the UK.
Who Is Affected?
These rules apply to workers whose paid hours vary wholly or mostly from period to period (irregular hours workers), and workers who only work part of the year with periods of at least one week where no work is done (part-year workers). Common examples include:
- Zero-hours contract workers
- Casual and bank staff
- Term-time only workers in schools
- Seasonal workers in hospitality and agriculture
- Agency workers with variable assignments
How Holiday Accrual Works
Under the new rules, irregular hours and part-year workers accrue holiday entitlement at the rate of 12.07% of hours worked in each pay period. This replaces the previous method of calculating entitlement in weeks, which was found to produce unfair results for part-year workers following the Supreme Court's decision in the Harpur Trust v Brazel case (2022).
The 12.07% figure is derived from dividing the statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks' holiday by 46.4 working weeks (52 weeks minus 5.6 weeks' holiday). For example, if an irregular hours worker works 40 hours in a pay period, they accrue 4.83 hours of holiday entitlement (40 x 12.07%).
The 12.07% Accrual Method Explained
The 12.07% accrual method provides a straightforward way to calculate holiday for workers with variable hours:
- Calculation: At the end of each pay period, multiply the total hours worked by 12.07% (or 0.1207). The result is the holiday hours accrued in that period.
- Example 1: A zero-hours worker who works 80 hours in a month accrues 9.66 hours of holiday (80 x 0.1207).
- Example 2: A seasonal worker who works 500 hours over a 3-month busy period accrues 60.35 hours of holiday (500 x 0.1207).
- Rolled-up holiday pay: The 2024 rules also re-introduced the option for employers to pay rolled-up holiday pay to irregular hours and part-year workers. This means the 12.07% is added to each payment as an uplift, rather than being taken as paid time off.
Employers must clearly itemise rolled-up holiday pay on payslips so that workers can see exactly how much holiday pay they have received.
Maternity, Paternity, and Parental Leave: Holiday Accrual
Understanding how annual leave interacts with family-related leave is important for UK workers planning time off:
- Maternity leave: You continue to accrue your full statutory and contractual annual leave entitlement throughout the entire maternity leave period (up to 52 weeks). This means a full-time worker on a year's maternity leave accumulates 5.6 weeks of annual leave that must be taken before or after the maternity leave period.
- Paternity leave: Annual leave continues to accrue during the 1 or 2 weeks of statutory paternity leave. This has minimal practical impact due to the short duration.
- Shared parental leave: Holiday accrual continues throughout any shared parental leave taken. Both parents should check their individual entitlements with their employers.
- Adoption leave: The rules mirror those for maternity leave. Holiday accrues throughout the adoption leave period.
If your employer's leave year ends during maternity leave, they must allow you to carry over any accrued but untaken holiday to the next leave year. This is one of the few circumstances where statutory carry-over is legally required.
UK Bank Holidays in 2026
Bank holidays in England and Wales for 2026 are as follows:
- 1 January (Thursday): New Year's Day
- 3 April (Friday): Good Friday
- 6 April (Monday): Easter Monday
- 4 May (Monday): Early May Bank Holiday
- 25 May (Monday): Spring Bank Holiday
- 31 August (Monday): Summer Bank Holiday
- 25 December (Friday): Christmas Day
- 28 December (Monday): Boxing Day (substitute day as 26 December falls on Saturday)
Scotland has the same bank holidays but replaces Easter Monday with 2 January and adds St Andrew's Day (30 November). Northern Ireland includes all the England and Wales dates plus St Patrick's Day (17 March) and the Battle of the Boyne (13 July).
There is no statutory right to time off on bank holidays in the UK. Employers can require staff to work on bank holidays, and bank holidays can be included in the 5.6 weeks' minimum annual leave entitlement. Check your employment contract to understand your specific bank holiday entitlements.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is annual leave calculated for part-time workers?
Part-time workers in the UK are entitled to the same 5.6 weeks' annual leave as full-time workers, calculated on a pro-rata basis. For example, if you work 3 days per week, your entitlement is 3 x 5.6 = 16.8 days per year. If you work irregular hours, the 12.07% accrual method applies from January 2024 onwards.
Can my employer force me to take annual leave?
Yes, your employer can require you to take annual leave on specific dates, provided they give you notice equal to at least twice the length of the leave. For example, to require you to take one week off, they must give you at least two weeks' notice. This is commonly used for factory shutdowns, Christmas closures, or quiet business periods.
What happens to untaken annual leave when I resign?
When you leave a job in the UK, you are entitled to payment in lieu of any accrued but untaken holiday. This is calculated on a pro-rata basis up to your leaving date. If you have taken more holiday than you have accrued, your employer may deduct the excess from your final pay, but only if this is specified in your contract.
Can I carry over unused annual leave to the next year?
The statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks is split into two parts for carry-over purposes. The first 4 weeks (derived from EU law) can only be carried over in specific circumstances such as long-term sickness or maternity leave. The additional 1.6 weeks can be carried over if your employer's policy allows it. Many UK employers offer contractual carry-over of a few days, but there is no automatic legal right to carry over unused leave in normal circumstances.
UK Annual Leave Law: Your Statutory Rights
The United Kingdom's annual leave entitlements are governed primarily by the Working Time Regulations 1998, which implement the EU Working Time Directive into UK law. Despite Brexit, these regulations remain in force and continue to provide the legal foundation for holiday rights across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Under UK law, all workers (including part-time, temporary, agency, and zero-hours contract workers) are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave per year. For a full-time employee working five days per week, this equates to 28 days, which can include the eight UK bank holidays. There is no statutory right to have bank holidays off as paid leave; employers can require employees to work on bank holidays and include them within the 28-day minimum entitlement. However, many employers offer bank holidays in addition to the 28-day minimum, giving employees a total of 36 days or more.
Part-time workers are entitled to paid annual leave on a pro-rata basis. An employee working three days per week is entitled to 3 divided by 5 multiplied by 28, which equals 16.8 days of paid leave per year. For workers with irregular hours or those on zero-hours contracts, the calculation is based on 12.07 percent of hours worked, which is derived from dividing 5.6 weeks by 46.4 working weeks in a year (52 weeks minus 5.6 weeks of leave). From January 2024, the government introduced simplified holiday calculation rules for irregular hours and part-time workers, allowing employers to use a percentage-based accrual method.
UK employment law does not require employers to allow employees to carry over unused annual leave to the following year, though many employers permit a limited carryover of typically 3 to 5 days. The exceptions are where an employee has been unable to take leave due to maternity, paternity, or sickness absence, in which case carryover of the statutory 4 weeks (20 days for full-time workers) is protected by law.
Practical Annual Leave Tips for UK Workers
- Maximise bank holiday weekends: By strategically booking annual leave around UK bank holidays, you can create extended breaks. For example, booking four days of leave around the Easter bank holidays can give you a ten-day break while only using four days of your allowance.
- Know your accrual rights if starting mid-year: If you start a new job partway through the leave year, your entitlement is calculated on a pro-rata basis. In your first year, you accrue holiday at the rate of one-twelfth of your annual entitlement for each complete month of employment.
- Check your contract for enhanced entitlement: Many UK employers offer more than the statutory minimum of 28 days. The average private sector employee receives 33 days including bank holidays, while public sector workers often receive 35 days or more, increasing with length of service.
- Request leave in writing: Under the Working Time Regulations, notice to take leave must be at least twice the length of the leave period. For one week off, give at least two weeks' notice. Employers can refuse leave requests with the same notice period.