Statutory holiday entitlement in the UK: how it's calculated

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, almost all UK workers — full-time, part-time, agency, and most casual workers — are entitled to a statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. For a standard full-time employee working 5 days a week, that works out to 28 days.

The standard formula (regular days per week)

For a worker with fixed, regular working days, the calculation is straightforward:

For example:

• 5 days/week × 5.6 = 28 days (the standard full-time entitlement)
• 4 days/week × 5.6 = 22.4 days, rounded up to 22.5 days
• 3 days/week × 5.6 = 16.8 days, rounded up to 17 days

If the result isn't a whole number, you must round up (to the nearest half day is common practice) — never down. The entitlement is capped at 28 days even for someone contracted to work more than 5 days a week.

Try our holiday entitlement calculator to work this out for any number of days per week.

Irregular hours and part-year workers: a different method

The formula above assumes regular, fixed days. For workers whose hours genuinely vary week to week, or who only work part of the year (e.g. term-time-only staff), leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024 use a different, hours-based accrual method: entitlement builds up at 12.07% of hours actually worked in each pay period (5.6 weeks ÷ 46.4 working weeks ≈ 12.07%). Employers may also choose to pay this as "rolled-up holiday pay" — an extra 12.07% added to each payslip instead of paid leave — for these workers specifically.

This is a genuinely different calculation from the days-per-week method above — don't apply the simple formula to someone on a true zero-hours or highly variable contract. Flagging this here rather than building it into the calculator, since getting the accrual period and rolled-up-pay mechanics right depends on your specific pay reference periods — check current gov.uk / Acas guidance for your exact situation.

What can be included

Bank holidays can be counted towards the 5.6-week statutory minimum — there's no separate legal entitlement to bank holidays off on top of it, unless your contract says otherwise. Many UK employers do give bank holidays in addition to the statutory minimum as a matter of custom or contract, so always check what a specific employment contract actually promises, not just the legal floor.

New starters and leavers

Someone joining or leaving partway through the leave year builds up (accrues) holiday in proportion to how much of the year they've worked, not the full annual amount from day one. On leaving, any statutory holiday accrued but not yet taken must be paid out.

This guide covers the statutory minimum only — many employers offer more generous contractual holiday on top. It's general information, not payroll advice; always verify the current rules against gov.uk or Acas guidance, especially for irregular hours and part-year workers where the rules changed relatively recently (2024).