Holiday entitlement calculator

Statutory UK holiday is 5.6 weeks, capped at 28 days. Enter a working pattern to see it in days and hours, pro-rated for anyone who starts or leaves part way through the leave year.

The working pattern

Statutory entitlement

For irregular-hours and part-year workers, leave accrues at 12.07% of the hours actually worked in each pay period (WTR 1998 reg 15B).

How statutory holiday is worked out

The Working Time Regulations 1998 give almost every worker 5.6 weeks of paid leave: four weeks under regulation 13 plus 1.6 weeks under regulation 13A. Crucially it is 5.6 weeks of their own week, not of a notional full-time one - so the sum is simply days a week multiplied by 5.6.

Regulation 13A(3) caps the entitlement at 28 days, which is why the six-day worker does not get 33.6. And for irregular-hours and part-year staff, regulation 15B accrues leave at 12.07% of the hours actually worked - the figure this calculator and the Zynthio HR module both use.

Common questions

How much holiday is a UK worker entitled to?

Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year under the Working Time Regulations 1998. For someone working five days a week that is 28 days. The 5.6 weeks is of the worker's own normal week, so a three-day-a-week worker gets 16.8 days, not 28.

Is holiday capped at 28 days?

Yes. Regulation 13A(3) caps statutory entitlement at 28 days, so someone working six or seven days a week still receives 28 days rather than 33.6 or 39.2. An employer can always offer more contractually.

Do bank holidays count towards the 28 days?

They can. There is no statutory right to paid leave on a bank holiday, so an employer may include the eight UK bank holidays within the 5.6 weeks. Hospitality employers commonly do, since venues trade on those days.

How does holiday work for zero-hours and irregular-hours staff?

For irregular-hours and part-year workers, leave accrues at 12.07% of the hours actually worked in each pay period under regulation 15B. 12.07% is simply 5.6 weeks divided by the 46.4 working weeks that remain once the holiday is taken out.

How do I pro-rata holiday for someone who starts mid-year?

Work out the full-year entitlement for their working pattern, then multiply by the fraction of the leave year they will be employed for. This calculator does that automatically if you enter a start or leaving date - and part-year entitlement should be rounded up, never down.

Tracking holiday for a whole team on a spreadsheet?

Zynthio HR calculates every employee's entitlement automatically, tracks what they have booked and taken, pro-rates starters and leavers, and accrues 12.07% for irregular-hours staff off their real clocked time.